100 Themes Challenge
by Kiterie
Summary: Multiple pairings, sometimes none, has yaoi may have yuri and het. M for caution.
1. Introduction

Title: Introduction  
Rating: G  
Summary: Iruka meets 'Yamato,' sometimes first impressions really leave an impression.  
Disclaimer: Wish I owned Naruto but I don't, Kishi-sama does. Though I regularly use them for my own amusement.

--

"Iruka-sensei!" The blonde called, waving him over to where he sat eating what appeared to be his fifth bowl of ramen.

He walked over and ruffled the blonde's hair. "Just get back from you mission?"

"So, you're the famous Iruka-sensei?" Iruka turned to look at the man sitting next to Naruto, before nodding.

"Hai, and you are?" The chakra signature was familar but it wasn't a face he recognized, meaning the man was likely ANBU.

"Yamato." Cat-like eyes watched him even as the other inclined his head, bowing slightly. "I'm leading Team Kakashi while Kakashi-senpai is recouperating." Iruka raised an eyebrow at that but said nothing.

Naruto yanked him down by the sleeve to whisper in his ear and Iruka tried not to laugh as the boy explained that Captain Yamato was 'way creepy.'

"It's nice to meet you, Yamato-san," Iruka said before sitting down to order his own ramen; and listen to Naruto ramble on about the mission. As usual exaggerating about how he was, of course, the hero who saved them all.

Around Naruto's twelth bowl of ramen Sakura showed up and ordered some ramen to go. When she left, Naruto chased after her, making rather loud suggestions about having dinner together; even though he'd just eaten and she was carrying her take-out.

Iruka pulled out some money to pay for his and Naruto's food. "It was nice meeting you, Yamato-san," he said, smiling as he turned to go.

"Iruka-sensei."

The chunin turned at the sound of his name and watched as the jounin brought his hands together for a moment. When he opened them, a small branch was growing from his palm. Iruka stared, transfixed, as an apple grew from the the branch.

Yamato plucked the apple with his free hand and held it out to the young sensei. "It was nice to meet you to, Iruka-sensei."

He felt himself blushing as he accepted the gift and a moment later the jounin disappeared in a puff of smoke. Smiling, he headed home.


	2. Gray

Title: Gray  
Paring: KakaIru (of course)  
Summary: Iruka ponders his favorite color.  
Disclaimer: sigh alas I'm still poor but maybe if I win the lottery I'll be able to make my dream come true and truly bend Kakashi and Iruka to my will.

A/N: I've decided to do the 100 theme challenge. All of them will be shorts I'm doing multiple pairings BUT this one is KakaIru.  
If anyone's interested I also have Introduction but it's YamaIru.

Iruka picked the shirt and studied it. It was such a pale shade of gray, that it was nearly white. He bought it, knowing that it was probably a bad idea seeing as he didn't really have anywhere to wear it. Still it was gray, and for that reason alone he couldn't resist.

As he walked home, smiling and clutching the bag, his eyes kept wandering the sky. The clouds gathered, deep gray and heavy with promised rain. The weather seemed to be conspiring against him with fate.

His stomach growled and he glanced around, trying to decide where to eat. A wood frame food stall was aged, and normally it wouldn't have stood out. But, today the deep gray caught his eye and he headed inside. When his food was served, he sat staring at the way the gray ceramic plate made the food seem even more colorful with it's subtle hue.

It wasn't until the other sat down across from him that he even noticed him, and he looked up only to find himself lost in the deep gray of the man's visible eye. "Did you say something Kakashi-sensei?"

The jounin rubbed the back of his neck, drawing Iruka's attention to the silver hair. "Ah, just that you seemed a bit lost in your thoughts. Is there something troubling you, Iruka-sensei?"

"No." Iruka sighed, resigning himself to his fate. "I was just thinking that it seems very... gray out today."

Kakashi looked at him puzzled. "I suppose your right. It does look like we'll be getting some rain soon. That's too bad, I was enjoying the sunshine."

"I like the rain," Iruka said smiling and not even looking outside where it was just now beginning to drizzle.

Kakashi laughed, shaking his head. "Really?"

"Mmmhmm... didn't you know, gray's my favorite color," he said, his eyes never straying from the other's face.

"Oh?" Kakashi seemed confused and then understanding lit his face and he actually blushed. Iruka could just see the light pink color peeking above the dark blue mask. "Oh..."

And, for a moment Iruka thought maybe pink wasn't such a bad color either.


	3. Smile

Title: Smile  
Pairing: GenmaxIruka  
Summary: Genma's thoughts on Iruka's smile.  
Disclaimer: Nope still belongs to Kishi-sama.

Genma smirked as he studied his friend. Most shinobi knew how to laugh. It was often better to laugh than to think about the reality of their lives. When you were faced with death more days than not, it became a matter of whistling past the grave yard. Of course the other option was to become a humorless stick in the mud like certain old farts on the council.

But, there was usually a hint of sadness to the eyes. A crease that showed the strain of too many forced smiles. And, always, there was the pause. The moment where the nin would hesitate, indiscernible to anyone other than another shinobi. It was like they were taking the briefest of moments to prepare themself for some unmentioned pain. Rarely, but most painful, was when one would suddenly stop as though struck by some dark thought or memory.

So, when he watched the honest laughter of one of his closest friends, he was both confused and hopeful. It wasn't that the younger man didn't understand pain, he'd suffered just like everyone else. And, surprisingly, it wasn't an act.

Genma had known the chunin since Iruka was at the academy, and he remembered the time that the smile was nothing more than a facade. If you asked him when that had changed he wasn't sure he could pin down the day. It had been something that had simply happened so slowly not even those closest to Iruka had noticed. But, even in the beginning the brunette's smile had been something worth seeing. Something about the softness of the man's eyes made you /want/ to see him smile. Iruka, was just somebody who should. Above all else, Genma loved seeing him smile.


	4. Happiness

Title: Happiness  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Rating: PG  
Summary: Kakashi wonders if he's dreaming  
Disclaimer: Nope still Kishi-sama's

This was his happiness. Being right here, where even at night it was like basking in the sun on the perfect day. The warmth on his skin where the other pressed into him was more relaxing than any amount of sunshine, even with the rain pouring down outside. Nothing compared to this and to think that not even a day ago 'this' had seemed outside his reach.

Kakashi, slid his hand over the tan skin, his face buried in dark brown hair. It was surreal and he wondered for probably the tenth time if maybe he was dreaming and the man in his arms would disappear as soon as the sun rose. But, he was almost too afraid to pinch himself. If this /was/ a dream, he never wanted to wake up.

So, he buried his nose into the crook of the other man's neck, wrapped himself even tighter against the firm body, and prayed that daylight would never come.


	5. Trouble Lurking

Title: Trouble Lurking  
Pairing: GenIru  
Rating: G  
Summary: Genma is stalked by a certain pony-tailed mischief maker  
Disclaimer: Still the Great Kishi-sama's

Iruka crept over the roof as quietly as he could, ducking down whenever the other stopped to look around. He slid down the tiles and and dropped into the alley behind the Tokubetsu. The soft sound of his feet hitting the dirt was enough to cause the jounin to spin around. Iruka however was prepared and henged into a cat before the other could catch sight of him. Shaking his head, Genma turned back around and continued on his way.

They turned corners and slid through alleys, but the chunin managed to remain hidden and in the shadows the entire way. It wasn't until the window of older man's apartment came into view that Iruka thought that /maybe/ he'd been found out.

"I know you're there," Genma stated peering into the shadows, obviously unable to see who was following him. "Iruka, stop it. I know you're following me, so just cut it out."

He /almost/ stepped from his hiding place, but then the golden-haired man spun around, throwing his hands up in the air and stormed towards his door. "Fine then, you can stay out here! See if I care."

Genma fumbled his keys, dropping them. And, it was in brief moment as the bits of metal fell towards the ground that Iruka pounced. His hands flashed through the signs faster than he knew they could and a second later he landed on his butt in front of the jounin.

To his credit, Genma, didn't jump. Instead he sighed. "Where's my keys you?" Iruka pointed to the ground behind Genma, where he'd been only moments before, and grinned.

"You're shirt's right. You /are/ trouble." Then with a laugh, the other spun around grabbed his keys and opened the door. "So, Trouble, are you coming in? Or are you going to continue lurking around out here?"

Iruka grinned and followed the other man inside.


	6. Breathe Again

Title: Breathe Again  
Pairing: GenHaya  
Rating: G (but mentions character death)  
Summary: Haya's funeral.  
Disclaimer: Nope still don't own Naruto

A/N I don't like this as much as my other pieces but wanted to write it anyway. And it's leaning heavily towards what I have planned for the end of Plans.

It ended, and Genma stood there feeling like there should be more. But, there wasn't. He wondered how things could turn out this way. Wasn't there supposed to be a 'Happy Ever After'? Of everyone, this was the one person he had truly wished that for.

When they'd come to tell him, his heart had caught in his throat and he'd forgotten how to breathe. The shock of it was choking him, even now standing there clutching the flower it was as though he couldn't breathe, and hadn't since that moment.

The first time he'd given him the flower, Hayate had been confused. Then Genma had explained that it meant sickness and that despite that it was a beautiful flower. It had been his not-so-subtle way of trying to tell Haya-kun that he thought he was cute. It had become 'their' flower.

Now, as he stood over the grave of his friend, his lover... he couldn't seem to let it go. It held too much and he was afraid to let it go, to let Haya-kun go. So, he stood there, holding the flower, and trying to breathe. But his chest was clenching as tightly around his heart as his hand was around the flower, and he truly believed he never would again.


	7. Break Away

Title: Break Away  
Paring: MinatoxKakashi (sort of)  
Rating: PG  
Summary: Kakashi's just lost the last of his precious people - age 14 (roughly)  
Disclaimer: Still not mine

DEDICATED TO VERNAJAST

He felt a peice of himself break away. It wasn't fair. Why did everything he held dear have to be taken from him? His mother was such a distant memory that he could only remember her eyes, dark blue and always so sad. His father... his father he wished he could forget. The way the blood had seemed to stand out against the pale skin was etched into his memory. Not even the mask could hide the image from his mind.

Then when he'd begun to heal, when he was just learning to smile again, fate had taken Obito from him. Mocking him from shadows, and reminding him to hold tightly to himself or it would take those precious to him away. But, it was too late by then, and he could see it coming like a storm rolling in and no shelter in sight.

Rin had smiled, for him, just for him... in those last brief moments. Her last words, the ones he hated most. The ones that reminded him that soon she would be ripped away as well. And, as tears choked him he couldn't even tell her. Her eyes forgiving him that, even then.

And now... now the one person most precious to him was gone. He had failed the only person he had left. The one person who had been able to truly see past the mask, past the coldness, past the indifference. He hadn't been brave enough to utter the words and now he would never be able to.

What hurt most was that, it wasn't death this time stealing his beloved sensei away. It was her, with her bright eyes and sweet words. That woman, who wasn't even from here. And, as much as he wanted to hate her, he couldn't. Because, he knew if he did, if he ever let the resentment out, it would hurt his precious person.

So, he smiled, he pretended that it didn't hurt, and he hoped that Minato couldn't see past this the way he did everything else.


	8. Rainbows

Title: Rainbow  
Pairing: IbikiIruka (sort of)  
Rating: G  
Summary: Iruka opens his mouth at exactly the wrong moment.  
Disclaimer: STILLL not mine damn it all those wishes too.

DEDICATED TO MY AWESOME BETA ATHAME

It had begun as a joke. He hadn't actually intended to go through with it. It was just that they'd been talking about how serious the man was, how he really needed to lighten up. And, then, somebody had said they bet the man was really a big softie. The the scowling and constant attempts to intimidate others was just a fascade. It had been those words that had done it.

Iruka's mouth opened, of it's own accord, and he'd said it. Timing was everything, and he had always had a knack for his quick wit. Usually, this played to his advantage and made getting out of trouble a lot easier. This time, however, it seemed that, that same ability would be his downfall.

"Oh, but you're right Iruka-sensei..." The words were spoken softly, too softly. And there was that smirk, the one that always accompanied the man's dark somewhat cruel sense of humor.

"I'm... right?" Iruka gulped and tried to back further into the booth only to have Genma shove him away, back towards what was most assurdly his doom.

"I love kittens and rainbows..." The words did nothing to ease the fear whelling up inside him. "Bruises turn interesting shades, very remeniscent of rainbows."

"Uh..." He was afraid to ask, but it was just that... he couldn't not ask. It's not as though it could get any worse, right? "And kittens?" Surely the man wasn't going to say he enjoyed kicking them or drowning them or something equally grotesque and horrifying.

"They purr. I like things that purr. Do /you/ purr sensei?"

Iruka's jaw dropped, his brain seemed stuck. The response was just... not what he was expecting.


	9. Traps

Title: Traps (connected to Creation)  
Pairing: IbikixIruka  
Rating: PG 13  
Summary: Iruka ask for Ibiki's help  
Disclaimer: Naruto is Kishi's

"I was wondering, Ibiki-san, if you might have time to help me test something..." Iruka leaned on the desk, smiling sweetly at the head of T&I.

"Test /what/ exactly?" The scarred man asked the question without so much as glancing up.

"Oh, well just a little something I came up with. It's a new addition to my home security, if you really must know." The chunin stated the fact as though it was truly not a big deal, as though Ibiki didn't know that the seemingly innocent school teacher was a master with traps.

Sighing and setting his pen down Ibiki leaned back in his chair and studied the man. "You really expect me to think, you don't know full well what your little trap does? You seem to think I've forgotten the last prank of yours I was victim to."

"I promise this is nothing like that. Besides, you can't hold that against me forever. I mean come on, I was fifteen and it's not like I knew those berries would stain skin."

Ibiki might have dropped it but the grin that crept across the tanned face decided him against that and instead he crossed his arms and glared at the man. "I was /blue/ for a /week/."

"I'm sorry, okay. AND, I promise /this/ is absolutely not going to leave you blue." There as a look on the mischiefious man's face that made Ibiki question the meaning behind those words.

"Fine, but if you're lying... well there's several new techniques I've been looking to try out." He tried for his most menacing look, and thought for a moment he succeeded until the other started clutching his sides and laughing. "You know what I meant."

Iruka snickered and nodded, seemingly unable to voice the acknowledgement without voicing his obvious amusement at Ibiki's vocal mis-step.

Ibiki didn't wait for the man to regain his composure, instead he shoved Iruka through the door, leading him by the shoulder. "Just show me your damn trap and shut up."


	10. Creation

Connected to Traps may want to read that first.

Title: Creation  
Pairing: IbikixIruka  
Rating: PG 13  
Summary: Iruka has laid a very clever trap for Ibiki  
Disclaimer: Hmmm nope still don't own

Ibiki knew every trap Iruka had ever designed. He knew which ones the man used on his apartment, where each was, and how they worked. This new one, had come as a bit of a surprise.

He'd leapt out of the way the chakra string, which had swung up, narrowly missing the tip of his nose. What had taken him by surprise had been that he hadn't stepped back into another part of the trap. Most of the chunin's traps were layered and left one dancing to avoid being caught in them.

When two arms wrapped around his waist he nearly jumped out of his skin. "Hmm... so, what do you think of my little creation?" Iruka all but purred beside his ear.

Ibiki swallowed hard, shoving the surprise away before turning to smile at the chunin over his shoulder. "I don't know... it seems a bit simpler than other ones, you really think anyone will fall for it?"

"You did." Iruka grinned as he leaned up to press his lips against Ibiki's.


	11. Standing Still

Title: Standing Still  
Pairing: None  
Chapter Rating: PG 13  
Summary: Kakashi talking to the stone about how he feels about his life (roughly 10 years after Minato died)  
Disclaimer: Still Kishi's

The sun shone, glaringly bright across the training field. It made the figure at standing at the stone seem oddly out of place with his dark clothes, his slouching posture, and his bent. The effect only seemed to amplify the man's expression; defeated, lost, and strangely resigned.

"I feel as though I'm sleeping." He spoke the words to no one, or at least no one that could be seen. It had become a ritual so long ago that it was a part of him, it drew him so strongly he couldn't deny it even when he wanted to. And, so like most days, he was hear speaking to no one who could hear him. Because, they were the only ones who could understand him.

"When I'm here, it's as though this is only a dream." There was both acceptance and confusion in the tone. "The day disappears and I don't remember where it went."

It had been nearly a ten years and still he was here, perhaps he had no where else to go, or simply nowhere he wanted to be. His memories were here, at least the important ones were.

"I only feel alive when I'm on a mission, but then I'm home and I'm asleep again, or I'm here... and I'm dead.

It was truth, as far as truth is actually true. The adrenaline on missions pushing him to see the world, the fear making it all too real, and reality forced upon him causing him to pay attention. /That/ was life. It made him feel things, remember why he kept moving forward, and focus so he could hold onto those things.

Then... then he came home and he fell asleep again. It was too calm and he passed through it too much like the shadow he could feel himself becoming. But, you can't die in dreams. Not really.

And, so, the stone would call him from his slumber and he would end up here again. His death crushing him all over again. Each death, his father, Obito, Rin, Sensei... all of it reminding him that without them, what had been /him/ was dead.

Kakashi felt as though really, he was standing still, had been for what seemed like forever now. His body moved, it lived but he didn't. It slept, but never dreamed. But, in the end, he was dead.


	12. Cat

This has been made into a doujin.

Links: (just remove the spaces)

DA: http: /sumihatake.deviantart. com/art/Cat-doujin-cover-colored-97322258

Y-gal: http: /yaoi.y-gallery. net/view/461225/

LJ: http: /community.livejournal. com/kakairu/2077496.html#cutid1

Title: Cat  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Rating: PG 13  
Genre: Fluff (literally! ;p)  
Summary: Iruka has a visitor.  
Disclaimer: Kishi-sama is a genius I'm just borrowing them his genius for my evil little plans.

The cat purred and rubbed up against the chunin's leg as he set the bowl of lightly browned meat down. Iruka scratched it behind the ears as it sniffed the food and began eating, a low growl emenating emanating from it.

"Why do you always come here?" He let the question hang in the air, obviously not expecting an answer. Kneeling he continued to pet the light gray fur, amused at the way the cat arched it's back even while it's face was buried in the food. "I suppose I shouldn't feed you and encourage the behavior... but I can't resist."

The cat licked the tanned fingers, drawing a laugh from the chunin who shook his head before standing to go inside. "You know, if a certain silver-haired pervert would be half so brave he might find there was no reason to be a coward in the first place..." Iruka closed the balcony door as he headed inside.

A moment later, Kakashi broke the henge, the bright blush mostly hidden by his mask. "I suppose I am being a coward." Sighing, he reached up to knock.

Iruka slid the door open, leaning on the frame with a rather mischievous smirk. "Can I help you, Kakashi-sensei?"

The copy-nin flushed again, then hurriedly pulled down his mask and leaned forward to plant a chaste kiss on the younger man's lips. Before he could pull away, Iruka grabbed his vest and yanked him inside.

"Glad to see you found your courage," the chunin murmured as he wrapped his free hand around the back of Kakashi's neck. He wasn't about to let the man go now that he had him where he wanted him, except maybe to get him out of those clothes. Yes, he decided, that sounded like a very good plan indeed.


	13. Tears

Title: Tears  
Genre: Angst  
Pairing: GenIru, GenRai  
Summary: Genma tells his best friend he's 'in love.'  
Disclaimer: Borrowed from Kishi for evilness.

Genma hated the way the little drops of moisture formed in the other's eyes before slipping quietly down the tanned cheeks. It tore at him to watch the smile form, knowing it wasn't real but it was for him. But, the worst, was when Iruka hugged him and told him how happy he was for him. That... that killed a not-so-small part of his heart.

"You two are perfect for each other..." The words lacked enthusiasm but held a surprising amount of conviction.

When Iruka hugged him, his resolve faltered. How could 'happiness' hurt so much? It didn't make sense and for a moment the desire to tell the chunin it was a mistake was overwhelming. But, for a reason he couldn't name, the words simply wouldn't come.

"Thanks," he said instead. It wasn't as though Iruka would ever be his, and as much as he loathed it, he knew it was a fact. Genma had kept hoping that the other would begin to feel something more for him, anything. But, it had never happened. Iruka loved him, just not the way Genma wanted the man to love him.

The tears... didn't mean what he wanted them to. He wished Iruka was upset because Genma was moving on. Despite how much of a lie that was. It was simply that he had given up on the chunin ever returning his feelings, and was settling for the only other person he knew he could love, someday. Someone who already loved him.

Because, it was easier than fighting for something he could never have. He just couldn't hold onto false hopes anymore. Too many tears had left him achingly hollow and right now Genma knew he needed something solid and real to fill that.

No, the tears in Iruka's eyes were because knew he couldn't come running to him whenever he was upset anymore. That, made Genma feel worse, because he wanted to be there for his friend. Even though, he knew it was slowly killing him.

But, Raidou... Raidou loved him. His best friend loved him as much as Genma loved Iruka. And because he couldn't stand causing Rai to feel the way he felt, he'd given up on what he wanted. It wasn't as hard as he'd thought, because he already knew he could never have it. But, it hurt, and, he knew it always would. Just maybe though, if he didn't have to see Iruka's tears he could pretend it didn't.

So, he hugged his friend, smiled and then walked away.


	14. Insanity

Title: Insanity  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Genre: Humor  
Summary: Kakashi was definitely out of his mind...  
Disclaimer: Somebody want to buy it from Kishi and give it to me? I'll write you lots of smutty yummy goodness! Okay so I already do that...

/This/ was insanity. The most likely outcome was his death, while the least likely one would be getting what he wanted. He'd heard a statistic once that roughly 3 of the population was gay. Even if you accounted for lying and statistical error the chance was slim. That, was the first thing he had to consider but, other than asking, he didn't know very many ways to find out for sure; so he pushed it aside as unhelpful.

And, then one had to factor in chemistry. Kakashi supposed if you considered that, then maybe it was a good sign. They definitely had chemistry. Explosive was a very, very good word to use when describing their... relationship? Okay, so maybe that was more of a bad sign than it was a good one.

He wondered if what they had, could be considered a relationship when their interactions consisted of a loose association, connected only by a few minimal factors. 'Association.' Now that seemed to be a bit more accurate. Yes, they knew each other. Still, that the other might be interested in him was an entirely different matter. Half the time Iruka seemed to want to kill him.

Then there were the little things that made him question his logic. As well formed as it was. There was the fact that the chunin blushed when he complimented him. Even, if it had been couched in the pathetic guise of complimenting his student. But, it was a blush. Did men blush when others paid them compliments, or was that only if the guy liked the other? He wasn't sure.

If Iruka hated him wouldn't he have turned down even Naruto's invitation if it meant sitting next to somebody he couldn't stand? Honestly, the chunin never even hesitated. And had on one occassion even gone to a festival with them. That, had been nice...

Iruka had seemed shocked when he'd loaned him Pakkun but... he hadn't said anything except thank you the next time they'd 'run into each other.' Although, he had looked decidedly uncomfortable before excusing himself to run errands.

Kakashi frowned, hating his logic. It was circular without answers. It was stupid to think Iruka would want to spend time with him. Idiotic, to consider the possibility that the man would want to go on a date with him. And, it was down right insane to do what he was doing.

But, despite the obvious question to his sanity and quite possibly his intelligence, he was going to do it. So, taking another deep breath he stepped up to the mission desk. The room was empty, perfect or not, if you considered that he now had no reason to back out.

"Would you..." Kakashi swallowed nervously, blushing and sweating slightly from nerves. "wanttomaybegetdinnersometime?" There! He'd asked and now... now he could run away.

"I'd liked that." Iruka smiled at him, a light blush on his cheeks.

Kakashi grinned, relieved. Insanity, really wasn't so bad after all.


	15. Love

Title: Love  
Genre: Angst  
Pairing: YonKaka(sorta) and YonKushina  
Summary: Yondaime says his goodbyes  
Waring: Yondaime's real name is used.  
Disclaimer: Kishi's yeah we all know this.

Another for 100 themes and dedicated to those who've made me feel welcome in the YonKaka community.

'Love,' it was such a wonderfully horrible thing. Or perhaps that should be 'horribly wonderful.' Minato wasn't sure, but right now it felt like the first.

It was because of love that he was staring into those dark red eyes. He could see his death in those eyes. Fear welled up inside of him as his hands flew through the seals. But, even as the Death God appeared behind him he felt oddly at peace.

When Kushina had screamed in pain he'd had his moment of doubt. Even, the blonde, love-sick fool that he was he had known then, that she wouldn't make it. But, Naruto had cried out an instant later and ground in his resolve. So, after he'd settled his infant son into the bassinet and kissed the baby's forehead, he'd begun the preparations.

Minato had signed his will, made arrangements for Naruto to be taken care of, and given the council his recommendations for what to do after this was over. As simple as those task were, they had taken more out of him than he cared to admit. He didn't have time for goodbyes, and that fact weighed on his heart.

Sandaime and Jiraiya, thankfully, had been there through most of the process. They had taken the news with a surprising amount of grace, despite the obvious pain in their eyes. There was little he had left to say to them that he hadn't said hundreds of times in the years he'd known them. So, he'd hugged them one last time and gone to look for the only other person on his list that he had to see one last time.

The normally pristine uniform, that the boy wore, was covered in blood stains and dirt, a torn and blood soaked mask hung loosely around the pale neck. Kakashi's white hair was becoming a discolored, tangled, clumping mass of brown. But, the worst was the desperation, in the usually impassive dark blue of the boy's visible eye.

He hugged his student to him and wished things were not as they were. Then, with an overwhelming amount of regret he'd pulled back to look Kakashi in the face. "I love you, Kashi-kun. No matter what, please don't forget that you are precious to me." Minato swallowed the fear that threatened to consume him, as his shell-shocked student nodded slowly.

Now, as he stood here, looking out over the village as the Death God slowly wrapped it's arms around him, his mind drifted to his selfish acts. It was selfish to die this way, to willing leave those most precious to you behind. But, it was all he could do to save those he loved, so he prayed they would forgive him.


	16. Innocence

This is just a quick note to say that while I wrote a story short for Innocence it won't be posted here. It contains shota and is NC-17 in nature. If you want to read it and are over 18 feel free to e-mail me at mikittalanisha at yahoo dot com and I'll toss it your way.

Normally shota is something I avoid, other than Loveless, but I wrote it because it came to mind. It's YondaimexKakashi, it's concensual but angsty.


	17. I Can't

I CAN'T  
Title: I Can't  
Genre: Humor, Angst  
Pairing: None Kakashi is 8, Yondaime is 18  
Summary: Some things change a person so drastically they can never return to who they were before. And sometimes no matter how much we want to, we can't do anything to stop that change.  
Disclaimer: Kishi's wonderful characters, my evil plot bunny with fangs

"And, as the figure drew nearer they knew… he was back for /revenge/…" Minato's voice trailed off in an obvious attempt to be spooky, Kakashi only stared at him dully.

"The guy just rose from the dead of his own free will?" The boy said rolling his eyes. "It was probably just one of them using a genjutsu. You said they were all genin, except for their sensei who was asleep, so it couldn't have been a resurrection jutsu." Kakashi shook his head. "Besides, if it /had/ been a resurrection jutsu somebody would have had to know about their mission and you said they killed everyone."

"Okay, Mr. Skeptical, believe what you want but it was a zombie. They're real." The blonde teen shook his head.

"As real as ghost." The kids tone was down right sarcastic.

"What would you know? You're eight, I don't care if you are a chunin, eight is eight. And aren't eight year olds supposed to believe in things like monsters under the bed?" He smiled popping another marshmallow in his mouth before offering one to the silver-haired kid sitting across the fire from him.

Kakashi shook his head at the pro-offered sweet. "You're eighteen, aren't adults supposed to know better than to believe in things like that? And monsters are not the same thing as zombies. Once something is dead, it's always dead."

"Unless... you use a resurrection jutsu." They both laughed then; Minato's was loud and boisterous while the boy's was more of an amused chuckle.

Minato bit back the tears as he watched the son of the great White Fang clutching his father's coat as he begged him to wake up. He cursed fate for letting the boy be the one to find Sakumo.

"Wake-up, please just wake-up…" The plea was repeated over and over, never dulling the ache in Minato's heart at hearing them.

"He's gone, Kashi-kun. You have to let him go." He pulled his young charge away and held him close.

"Bring him back! You said zombies were real, so bring him back!" Kakashi yelled trying to push him away. "Bring him back!"

"I can't Kashi-kun, I'm sorry." The blonde clutched the struggling boy, refusing to let him go.

"You can too, you just don't want to! You're like /them, you don't want him to come back! I hate you!" But the boy stopped struggling against him and instead wept helplessly. It didn't matter that Kakashi knew it was hopeless, because as much as it hurt there was nothing that could keep somebody from wishing for what they truly wanted.

"I'm sorry, Kashi-kun." He wished there were words that could make the other's pain disappear but there just wasn't, never would be. "Even if I could, it wouldn't be him."

"I told you they weren't real." He saw it, even knew what he was seeing, but had no idea what he could do about it. Kakashi withdrew then, even from him, and he was helpless to stop it.


	18. No Time

Title: No Time  
Rating: PG 13  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Kids are very observant.  
Disclaimer: not mine

Dedicated to demondreams, hope you like it hun.

Kakashi shoved the younger man against the chalkboard, cupping the chunin's ass and lifting him up to rest on the small ledge. "Missed you," he murmured against the tanned skin.

"Can't..." Iruka moaned clutched at the jounin's shoulders. "the kids..." He moaned as the other man found a sensitive point on his neck and began nibbling at the flesh there. Iruka felt himself being lifted again and heard the clatter as erasers and bits of chalk were shoved out from under him.

"Still have time..." Kakashi switched hands and used his free one to clear the rest of the chalkboard debris out of his way. Before continuing to kneed the soft flesh, this time without the annoyance of hard bits poking the backs of his ungloved hands.

"We.." Iruka gasped at the way Kakashi rubbed against him. "shouldn't... Nngh!" He yanked the back of the copy-nin's shirt up so he could run his hands over the warm skin. "...do this here." The chunin finally managed.

"Stop worrying," Kakashi growled, nipping at the brunette's ear lightly.

Iruka snaked a leg around Kakashi's. "If we get caught..." His threat was cut off as pale lips were crushed against his and a tongue was thrust into the slightly parted mouth.

The loud clatter of several pairs of feet running down the hall drew the chunin's attention back to the present and he shoved his lover away. He barely had time to straighten his ponytail before the door flew open.

"Iruka-sensei! Yori-kun's doing it again!" A young girl screamed as the door flew open and four kids screetched to a halt.

Iruka smiled warmly over his shoulder, his hand paused midstroke. "Yes, Haruka-chan, what's Yori-kun doing again?"

"He kissed me /and/ he pulled Kiku's hair!" She screeched, and the three girls behind her nodded in unison. The smallest, Kiku, was sniffling.

"Tell him if he does it again he'll writing a 500 word essay on appropriate behavior." Iruka said before going returning to writing on the board. The girls didn't move. "Was there something else?" he asked, wishing she'd go away already.

"Why do you have handprints on your butt?"

"I wiped my hands off and well wasn't thinking." He chuckled, inwardly cursing her observance.

"But..." she started again.

"Go play before I make you write a 500 word essay on why one should value their youth." His smile held a very clear warning that sent the girls running back outside.

"But, they're all wrong Iruka-/sensei/. The thumbs are at the top of your oh-so-cute ass cheeks and not on the side," Kakashi said, pushing the door shut.

"She would not have said my ass was cute, thank you very much."

"Give her a few years and she will." The copy-nin said grinning as he slid up beside his boyfriend and spun the chunin around. "Now where were we?"

"I was about to kill you."

"Mmm... yes, little deaths," he murmured before shoving the man against the chalkboard again.


	19. Dark

WARNING: Implied Shota no actual scene

Title: Dark  
Genre: Angst  
Pairing: YonKaka, other characters: Iruka, Sandaime  
Summary: Some things that go on in the dark should never be spoken of.  
Disclaimer: :p yeah it's Kishi's awesome characters, once again bent (over a desk) for my twisted amusement.

Dedicated to Micah

--

He slid along the wall, a sound caught his ears and he froze. Peering around the corner, his eyes shot open wide at what he saw.

"You shouldn't be here." He spun around and found himself staring at the very person he'd been going to prank. The old man grabbed his wrist, formed a handsign, and before Iruka could think to say anything they disappeared.

--

"You shouldn't go sneaking around in the dark, Iruka-kun. It's not very polite." Sarutobi frowned and handed him a cup of tea.

"They were…" Iruka blushed and looked away. Namikaze-sama and that boy were… even thinking about it made him want to hide.

"They were comforting each other. Both of them just lost somebody very close to them, and Hatake-kun…" The hokage sighed. "He's lost so much already, Minato just wants to ease that pain for him."

"But, he's my age!" The shock of seeing a boy barely older than him, doing those things… it left Iruka feeling very confused.

"He's two years older than you and he's been a shinobi since he was five Iruka-kun." The old man patted his shoulder. "I'm not saying it's okay, Minato is still his sensei… but, you remember how I told you there are things that shinobi do in the dark that should be left in the dark?"

Iruka nodded still stunned and unable to meet the old man's eyes.

"Sometimes this is one of those things, it's sometimes the only way to deal with the other things shinobi have to do in the dark. And Hatake-kun has done far too many of those things these I'm surprised he's handled it so well." Sarutobi set his cup down, the sound drawing Iruka's attention for a moment. "As long as it doesn't hurt him, I won't deny that boy anything."

"But…" Iruka frowned helplessly.

"What would you have me do Iruka-kun? Take Kakashi from the only person he trust? The only person he has left?" There was a surprising amount of pain in the old man's voice.

"No!" Iruka's head shot up. "I didn't mean that, it's just…" He looked away again. "He won't hurt Hatake-kun will he?"

"No, Iruka-kun, he would never hurt Hatake-kun intentionally. Hatake-kun means the world to him." The certainty eased some of Iruka's fears.

"Oh… okay then, as long as he doesn't hurt him." He set his tea cup down.

"So, what were you doing sneaking around so late at night?" Iruka looked up, startled by the sudden change of subject. "You weren't trying to prank /me/ were you, Iruka-kun?"

"No!" Iruka yelped. "I was… I was practicing my ninja skills." It wasn't a complete lie, only a partial one.

"Hmm… Maybe you should get some rest then so you can pay better attention in class when they discuss stealth."

Iruka blushed as he stood up. "Yes, Hokage-sama." He bowed before turning to leave.

Behind him Sarutobi smiled, maybe there was hope for the next generation after all.

(((BTW yes I was implying that Sarutobi had also been spying on them after all Jiji said he was a bigger pervert than him.)))


	20. Oh Really?

Title: Oh Really? (Sequel to Dark)  
Genre: Humor  
Pairing: KakaIru mentions YonKaka  
Summary: Iruka corners Kakashi about his now dead lover  
Disclaimer: I didn't bend them over a desk this time but they are Kishi's

"I should probably be jealous," Iruka said, coming up beside Kakashi. "A normal person would be bothered by their boyfriend talking to his long dead lover every morning."

Kakashi flushed and looked. "It's not what you think…"

"Oh really? Do you mean you never slept with him or that you weren't in love with him? Because, that's what I think."

Kakashi blushed, chargrined. "How?" The question was all he could manage in his surprise.

"I can hear it in your voice when you talk about him." Iruka smiled at him softly.

It amused Kakashi that the chunin didn't seem bothered by the fact. "That doesn't mean…"

"I saw you," Iruka said cutting him off, a dark blush spreading across his tanned cheeks.

Kakashi felt his jaw drop and was glad he didn't have his mask pulled down, he was embarrassed enough as it was. "You…"

Iruka nodded. "It was an accident."

"Oh, really?" He wondered how the brunette had happened to see them but didn't ask.

"Yes really!" Iruka stuck his tongue out and turned to go, obviously embarrassed. Kakashi fell into step with the chunin, then slid his hand into Iruka's.

"Really." Iruka repeated firmly. The copy-nin raised a questioning eyebrow, smirking at the chunin's indignation but only received a glare in response to his teasing.

They headed back to the village, a comfortable silence hanging between them. "Pervert." The word was whispered with quiet amusement and for a moment the brunette seemed not hear.

"Argh! You're terrible!" Iruka pulled away and stalked through the trees.

Laughing Kakashi darted after him, grabbing the younger man around the waist and slamming him up against a tree. "I might be, you're still a pervert."

"It was an /accident, I was eleven!" The brunette yelled, pushing on Kakashi's shoulder's in an unsuccessful and half-hearted attempt to shove the other away.

"Eleven? You really are a pervert!" As Iruka opened his mouth to protest again Kakashi yanked his mask down and captured the others lips. He didn't relent until the chunin moaned and pulled him closer.

"I'm not a pervert," Iruka stated the moment the kiss broke.

"Oh really? I think I can prove otherwise," Kakashi teased. The remark earned him a glare and another kiss. He decided he'd have to tell Minato about his peeping tom of a boyfriend next time he visited.


	21. Rejection

Title: Rejection  
Rating: PG 13  
Summary: Iruka was the one being rejected so why did Kakashi feel like it was it was him.  
Pairing: KakaIru (sort of)  
Disclaimer: Not unless Kishi keels over and leaves it to us fans. ;p

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume..." Iruka's face flushed as he stumbled over the words. Kakashi stared at him, torn between laughing and hitting the man.

"You didn't mean to assume what exactly? That I was gay? Desperate? /Pathetic/?" He clenched his hands into a fist as he resisted the urge to plant one in the chunin's face.

"Interested, I didn't mean to assume you'd be interested." The teacher looked both surprised by his outburst and ashamed. "I'm sorry if I offended you Hatake-sama. I thought I could help, but I am truly sorry if I've offended you." Iruka bowed. The action surprised Kakashi, and he realized the other meant the appology. He sighed as Iruka rose out of his bow, his head still bent.

"Why?" The question was vague, and to be honest, he wasn't even sure what he was asking.

"Because you don't seem like yourself." Iruka continued to stare at some spot on the floor.

"So you offer yourself to everyone who happens to be in bad mood? Or is it only to the one's you feel sorry for because they can't even hold a genin team together?" The words were out before he could get a handle on his irritation. He wondered at how the chunin could always manage to get under his skin, always push him so that he couldn't retain his cool facade of indifference. The fact irritated him more and again he twitched with the desire to buy his fist the appologetic man's face.

"No." Iruka's tone held a certain amount of anger, surprising the copy-nin. "You know what, forget I said anything. Go find yourself a whore and get over yourself." And with that Iruka turned and stalked off down the hall. "Excuse me for assuming we were friends."

Kakashi barely caught the muttered words and he winced as his own brash stupidity slap him in the face.


	22. Flowers

Title: Flowers  
Pairing: KakaIru (sorta)  
Summary: An apology of sorts  
Disclaimer: Characters are still Kishi's

Iruka stared at the strange mismatched bouquet of wild flowers. Several still had the roots attached. The mess looked like something one of his students would have brought him, and the hopeful look on the visible part of the other man's face only amplified the effect.

"Did you need something Hatake-san?" Iruka asked, not taking the flowers held out to him.

"These are for you." The flowers moved very slightly, drawing his attention to them again.

He raised an eyebrow curiously but still didn't move to take them. "And you're giving them to me because?"

"They're very useful, especially the dandelion. Although, personally I prefer the chamomile, it makes good tea." Iruka watched as Kakashi shifted from one foot to the other. "I even saved the roots."

"Uh, yes I'm aware of their uses Kakashi-sensei." He could feel his irritation dissolving and frowned. "I do teach pregenin and it is something we cover. I'm not completely inept you know." The chunin's tone wasn't as harsh as he'd intended despite the words. The copy-nin had the strangest effect on him, even after being so completely insulted; Iruka found he couldn't really stay mad at the other man.

"I wasn't trying to imply… forget it." Kakashi's hand dropped to his side and he turned to leave.

Shaking his head and sighing Iruka grabbed the older man's elbow to stop him. "Is this your rather bad attempt to apologize?" The silver-haired man stopped but didn't turn around. 'Really,' he thought, 'he has no understanding of social graces. You /don't/ give another man flowers.'

Kakashi nodded and Iruka couldn't help but smile. "you could have just said you were sorry."

If it was possible the jounin's shoulders slumped more but he did finally turn around. "It seemed… inadequate."

"And, giving me flowers didn't'?" he asked stifling his amusement.

"Gai said…"

"You took /Gai's/ advice?" Iruka couldn't help it, he burst out laughing. "Thanks," he said finally getting himself under control again. "So, are you going to stand there crushing those poor plants or do you think maybe you'd want to come in for a cup of tea?"

Kakashi shifted and looked away before sighing and stepping inside; shoving the flowers at him. Iruka smirked but didn't mention the slight blush creeping up over Kakashi's mask.


	23. Test

Title: Test  
Pairing: None characters - Sandaime, Kakashi  
Summary: There was always a 'but.'  
Disclaimer: Still not my characters

Dedicated to Demona cuz she's cool like that .

Kakashi bowed to the hokage, frowning as he did so. "You wanted to see me?" He kept his voice flat to avoid letting his irritation show.

"Hai. Please, sit." Sandaime motioned to the chair and reluctantly the copy-nin sat. "First of all, I want you to know, I appreciate everything you do. You're the best of your generation, the best ANBU we have."

Kakashi groaned, knowing what was coming next. Those words were always followed by a /But/. 'I know you don't want things to change, /but/ it's time you were on a real team.' 'I know he can pass the jounin exam Minato-kun, /but/ I feel he's too young.' 'I know how you feel Kakashi-kun, /but/ things can't be that way.' 'We did everything we could do, /but/ we couldn't save her.' There was /always/ a but, and it was never what he wanted to hear.

"But, I see that mask go on and I'm beginning to question whether it ever comes off." Sarutobi's words drew him back to the present and he scowled. "There are times now that you seem as cold as the porcelin."

"Maybe it's not a mask." Kakashi knew the cold rage he felt was irrational, and he didn't care. He was good at his job. Sarutobi had even said it. He was the best. So why did it feel like he was being punished for that.

"That's what worries me the most, that you're becoming the mask. I don't want to look up one day and see that you've disappeared behind it forever." The old man frowned and he slid a folder across the desk. "I want you to test another genin team."

"This again? What makes you think /this/ team will be any different?" Sarutobi was pushing it harder this time and Kakashi frowned as he picked up the folder. He read through the names, stopping as one caught his attention. 'Uzamaki, Naruto.' That explained things but it didn't change them. He wasn't going to pass a team that wasn't ready.

"That's this terms list of students. If /he/ passes I'd like you to test /his/ team." The hokage smiled, his words tone softened slightly by the action. "I think Minato-kun would have preferred it this way.

"I'll test his team, but I /won't/ guarantee he'll pass." He frowned as he saw the boy's rank in the class was dead last.

"I'll accept your decision on them as long as you test them." Kakashi handed the folder back to the hokage and stood to leave. "You might want to say your farewells to your team, I have a feeling you're going to have a new one soon."

Kakashi growled at Sarutobi's words and leapt out the window. He had a sinking feeling the old man was right.


	24. Under The Rain

You need to have read Gray for this, also Happiness comes after this but can be read before really.  
Title: Under the Rain  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Rating: PG  
Summary: Kakashi's POV to Gray  
Disclaimer: Kishi pwns us all.

Kakashi brushed a hand through his hair wishing he'd brought his umbrella. He knew it was going to rain. Sighing, he considered his options.

Going home wasn't going to work, he didn't have anything in the house to eat. The downside to being on missions so much meant everything spoiled and he had to replace it whenever he returned. The few things that didn't rot, weren't exactly food. Stuff in can and instant ramen did not constitute a meal. It was stuff you hate until you could find real food.

He could, he supposed, actually /go shopping/ but that would take more time than the weather was willing to give him. Then not only would he be soaked, whatever he bought would be. And, although, that wasn't exactly a problem, juggling wet bags while fishing out keys was. It required more effort than he wanted to put forth.

Coming around a corner, he spotted a familiar brown ponytail and decided the shopping could, most definitely, wait. The chunin sat in an open air stall with nothing but a few bits of fabric and faded wood between himself the threatening weather, seemingly lost in his thoughts.

Iruka didn't seem to notice him as he ducked inside the small food stall before the rain could come down on him. "Are you alright Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi asked, slipping into the chair across from the chunin.

Only then didn the other seem to notice him, blinking in surpise. "Did you say something Kakashi-sensei?"

Is there something troubling you, Iruka-sensei?"

"No." Iruka sighed. "I was just thinking that it seems very... gray out today."

The response surprised him. He hadn't expected it to be the weather that had the man looking... lost? "I suppose your right. It does look like we'll be getting some rain soon. That's too bad, I was enjoying the sunshine."

"I like the rain," Iruka said smiling and not even looking outside where it was just now beginning to drizzle.

Kakashi laughed, shaking his head. "Really?"

"Mmmhmm... didn't you know? Gray's my favorite color..." Iruka said, his eyes never straying from the Kakashi's.

"Oh?" He wondered what the chunin meant. Not that the question was out of place but there seemed to be more to it than that from the way the other was staring at him. He ran a hand through his hair, blushing as the realization hit him that Iruka meant him. "Oh..." Kakashi said smiling beneath his mask.

The silence hanging between them had a strange comfortable warmth to it, despite that they were sitting under the rain.


	25. Mischief Managed

Title: Mischief Managed  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Rating: PG 13  
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto cuz if I did they'd be far too busy smexying it up to go on missions.

another 100 themes.

"Hi," Iruka said, a slight blush darkening his cheeks.

"Hi." The copy-nin stepped closer, just far enough away passersby wouldn't have noticed the intimacy.

"About last night..." The chunin started, rubbing at the scar on his nose as though he could rub away the blush that continued to grow.

"Hm?" Kakashi tensed slightly, forcibly holding the slouch.

"It was..." Iruka paused, taking a long slow breath. "...nice."  
The tension eased out of him and the silver-haired man took another step forward. "No regrets?" he asked, leaning foward to whisper the question.

If it ws possible the chunin got even redder. "No," Iruka replied, swallowing audibly.

"Then want to do it again some time?" Amusement laced the words as Kakashi glanced towards the academy.

Iruka shoved him lightly. "Only if you can behave right now. /I/ need to get back to my class before they all escape and I have to hun them down."

Kakashi laughed as he caught the younger man's wrist. "Don't worry, they're too distracted to get into mischief."

"Oh?" The young sensei turned to look over his shoulder. The kids were petting and talking excitedly to 6 dogs who appeared to respond to the attention with various levels of tolerance and irritation. "Where are the others?"

"On watch." The copy-nin noted the barks of his dogs, signally him it was all clear.

"What why?" Iruka asked turning to look back at the masked jounin who was quite obviously grinning at him from beneath the cloth.

In answer Kakashi yanked on the tanned wrist, pulling the younger man behind the tree. "Tonight?"

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Say you'll see me again tonight."

"Tonight, then." A smile spread across Iruka's face.

"Good," Kakashi said, pulling down his mask and leaning forward to kiss the chunin. It had been his intention for it to be brief but the moment their lips met all thought of ever letting the other go vanished.

"Hey, Boss," came the slightly annoyed voice of Pakkun. "Can we go now? You got your date, and even Bull's patience is waning."

Kakashi glared down at the pug, he doubted Bull was at all bothered by the children. More likely Pakkun was tired of having to listen to the girls squealing. "Fine, fine." Despite his words he didn't move.

"Tonight," Iruka all but purred. "Besides if you don't stop there's no way I'm going to be able to stand in front of my class and teach."

"Then just stay here. Bull can handle them." He ignored the warning growl emenating from beside his leg.

"What am I going to do with you?" the chunin laughed before shoving the other back.

"I can think of plenty of things..." Kakashi said pulling Iruka too him again.

"Tonight." The man shot him a mock stern glare before pushing him away and heading off towards his class.

"Tonight..." he murmurred as he watched the chunin walk away.


	26. Hold My Hand

Title: Hold My Hand  
Pairing: KakaRin (well sorta)  
Rating: PG 13 for Death  
Genre: Angst  
Disclaimer: Kishimoto still owns Naruto even if I do abuse his characters

Another 100 themes.

"I'm dying, Kakashi-kun." Her voice cracked, whether from the illness or the pain that was only too clearly displayed in her eyes.

"I know." He was calm, his voice didn't break like hers had, didn't even waver. Most would have called it cold the way he stood there seemingly unmoved by the declaration.

Rin rubbed at her eyes with the palms of her hands, red lines spiderwebbing across the whites from far too much crying. Too many mistakes, things that couldn't be changed or fixed, time that should have been slowly fading from view.

"I'm scared," she admitted. It was the first time she could remember being truly afraid. When she'd been captured by enemy nin she had known her team would come for her. Had truly believed, even then that she'd be rescued.

When Obito had died and she'd been unable to save him, she'd been sad. Not as sad as she thought she should have been and that made her feel worse which made her feel better. But, she'd still had Kakashi and Minato-sensei.

When sensei had... died? Gone away... she'd cried and held the baby who was now an orphan. And still, Kakashi had been there, with his vow to Obito that he'd protect her. So, she had held onto that and let the pain go with sensei.

But, as Tsunade had given her the news, defeat written in the older woman's face, Kakashi had been gone. He'd been on a mission, far away, and she had hated him for it. And, when she was alone she had screamed and cursed and swore she hated him for not saving her like he always did. She wanted to believe she hadn't meant it, but at the time, she had. He was her hero and not even he could save her.

Now, with him standing beside her the only person she hated was herself. Kakashi hadn't failed her... she had failed him. If she had been a better fighter she could have avoided the poisoned senbon. If she had been a better medic she could stopped it from spreading to her organs until he'd been able to get her to Tsunade. /She/ had failed and she knew it.

"I'm sorry." The teen looked away at her words. She didn't bother to explain, she knew he'd understand what went unsaid. 'I'm sorry I failed you. I'm sorry I'm so pathetic. I'm sorry I'm leaving alone.'

A pale hand grasped hers and she smiled weakly up at him. "I love you." He didn't respond and she was glad for once that he didn't love her. She hoped that he could at least forgive her, for loving him and worse for abandoning him.

Tears seeped from the red sharingan and she wondered for a moment if they were his or Obitos... but she knew... Kakashi wouldn't cry for her. He'd hold her hand, he'd be there to watch over her even know, but he wouldn't cry for her. And she was glad.


	27. Mirror

Title: Mirror  
Pairing: KakaRin (sorta yes/sorta no) SasukeSakura (er well Kakashi's view on the matter)  
Genre: Angst  
Summary: Why Kakashi ignores Sakura  
Disclaimer: bows before Kishi

Fate had dealt him a cruel hand. His past mistakes mirrored in his present problem. And she represented the worst of those.

Rin was the ghost that she haunted him the most; more than Obito or Sensei. He'd failed them all but at least he'd had the bond with the other two. Twisted as those bonds may have been. Not her though. And she had so desperately craved it, even with her dying breath.

And the way Sakura chased after the brooding Sasuke only to be rejected, reminded him. Kakashi pretended he couldn't see the wounded look on the young girl's face. The foolish way she ignored her blonde teammate. But all of it was too familiar to truly ignore.

'Give your heart to Naruto, not him. He doesn't deserve it.' The words he would never speak because he knew, like Rin, they would go unheard. You couldn't dissuade a stubborn girl, and Sakura was definitely that.

So, he remained silent as often as he could; like he had in the end. Let her have her hope, let her pretend, ignore her... Because, there was nothing he could do for her.


	28. Horror

Title: Horror

Pairing: KakaIru, GaiIru  
Summary: There are few things more horrifying then imagining your best friend kissing the person you like. Particularly when your best friend is Gai.

Disclaimer: Yes yes Kishi is awesome and owns Naruto we just like to play with it a bit... okay a lot.

written for 100 themes and Beasiesgal

"Why?" His face was a mix of disgust and confusion, even with the mask.

"That's none of your business," the chunin said, storming away.

"But... HIM?" Kakashi looked like he'd swallowed a bug.

Iruka grabbed his papers from his desk and shoved them in his bag. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on, you can't say something like that and not explain." He almost wished he had never asked. "But it's... it's him... he's..." Kakashi sighed and scratched his head. "...he's so... /him/."

"He's /your/ best friend!" The younger man ground his teeth in annoyance.

"Exactly," he said, pacing behind the chunin who was packing up for the day. "I mean, /I/ should know."

"Would you shut up about it already? I never should have told you!" Iruka threw the bag over his shoulder and stormed out the door, pointedly trying to ignore the man following him.

"He's green, and shiny, and... loud!" Kakashi said, still sounding utterly confused.

"Stop following me." Iruka didn't even turn around long enough to glare at the other man.

"Just tell me why? I mean, it was an accident, right?" He asked, completely ignoring the chunin's 'request'.

"No, now drop it." This time he did stop and glare, while palming a kunai subconsciously.

"On purpose?" The man's visible eye widened in obvious horror.

"Yes, on purpose." Iruka wondered if the other was dumbstruck enough he could actually stab him. He considered it another moment, while Kakashi stood there gaping, then turned and stalked towards the mission room again.

"But, it's /Gai," Kakashi said, standing and staring at the chunin marching determinedly away. "Gai was your first kiss? Gai?" The fact just wouldn't sink in, refused. He just couldn't picture it. Or, maybe, he just didn't want it to.

Iruka turned, the vein in his forehead pulsing. "YES! NOW SHUT UP!" He yelled, throwing the kunai before spinning around and storming off. He hoped Kakashi would get the hint and leave him alone already.

"Gai?" The copy-nin shuddered and stared at the kunai that he'd caught on reflex alone. "Gai..." It wasn't fair; he sulked and wondered how the green clad freak could have gotten the extremely cute chunin to kiss him. And, more importantly, how he could.


	29. Give Up

Title: Give Up  
Pairing: KakaIru sorta GaiIru sorta (less so in this one)  
Genre: Humor  
Summary: Sequel to Horror  
Disclaimer: Characters are Kishi's plot is mine bunnies are evil

another 100 theme and another for Beasiesgal

Iruka stared at the man standing in front of him. "What?"

"You told him." Gai grinned, because he always grinned, so it took a moment for Iruka to realize the man was bothered by the fact. The fact he wasn't yelling it at the top of his lungs should have been a dead give away.

"Yes." The chunin shrugged and ignored the way the other man's smile dropped and his brow furrowed in thought.

"You shouldn't have." The green-clad jounin shook his head and Iruka sighed. Gai wasn't just bothered by the fact that he'd told Kakashi, he was angry.

"So? I told him. /And/?" He let his irritation be heard.

"My rival is very competitive." Gai said it as though that explained everything.

"Gai..." Iruka rubbed his scar and tried to think of a way to explain that his friend was delusional, and it was /him/ that was competitive. Giving up, he sighed. "What's your point, Gai?"

"I fear for your virtue, Iruka-sensei," the jounin said seriously.

Iruka nearly burst out laughing at the statement. "I assure you my 'virtue' is perfectly safe." Safe, after all, was relative. He decided to leave out the fact that his 'virtue' hadn't been up for grabs for several years now.

"I think you underestimate my rival, and I must tell you..." The man looked even more serious than he had a moment before. "...he won't give up."

"First of all, Gai..." He laid a hand on the other man's shoulder. "...my 'virtue' is not a competition." Iruka reminded himself that 'everything' was a competition in Gai's mind. "Second, I assure you, you're wrong. Kakashi-sensei does not see it as such."

He doubted that it would dissuade the man. Once Gai got something in his head, it never left. The chunin suspected it got lost and echoed around rather loudly. And, he suspected, that was why the man felt the need to shout; he was trying to be heard over the voices in his head.

"But..." Gai started again.

"Drop it!" Iruka shouted, hoping using 'the sensei voice' would shut the man up.

"He won't give up." The jounin was grinning again, this time at somebody over Iruka's shoulder.

The brunette sighed and looked over his shoulder at the silver-haired man approaching them.


	30. Seeing Red

Title: Seeing Red  
Genre: Humor  
Pairing: KakaIru GaiIru  
Disclaimer: Characters are Kishi's plot is mine

another for Beasiesgal and another for 100 themes

For the entire week Iruka had been subjected to their little 'competition.' Despite Gai's supposed words of concern, the man had jumped in the challenge rather quickly. All Kakashi had done was  
'look' at the green clad man, and the jounin had begun spouting nonsense about how he wouldn't lose.

First, Kakashi had turned in a mission report and 'accidentally' gotten a paper cut. Which he immediately asked Iruka to 'kiss it and make it better', grinning and obviously unable to contain his amusement. The chunin had rolled his eyes at the tiny red cut across the man's finger tip. He was going to let it go, but the man just stood there with his hand out stretched. It wasn't until Iruka threatened to bite it off and give him something to complain about, that Kakashi had reluctantly pulled his hand back.

Then, Gai had bought him flowers. Lots of flowers. Enough, in fact, that they filled the mission room /and/ Tsunade's office. The Godaime had not been particularly pleased when she awoke from her sake induced nap to find her desk piled with bright red tulips.

It had only gotten worse from there. Kakashi gave his entire class lollipops, and he spent the day chasing fifteen pre-genin with sugar highs and sticky red fingers. Gai decided to help and tried to grade the test while he was busy chasing said kids around. He came back to red blotchy declarations of how wonderfully each student did, no matter how the student did. Which was questionable, since the parts on ninjutsu and genjutsu were where Gai decided to write his monologues.

By the end of the week, Iruka was, needless to say, seeing red. Neither man should have been surprised when he sent them both on the longest missions he could find, in opposite directions. He hoped they'd forget, or, at least, consider twice before continuing their competition when they returned. Because if they didn't... they'd be the one's seeing red. He'd beat them to bloody pulps, jounin or not.


	31. Dying

Title: Dying  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Genre: Humor? Drama? I don't know  
Disclaimer: Kishi's characters, my twisted little plot bunny

another for 100 themes and beasiesgal

Of course, Kakashi collapsed in front of /his/ house, because that was just the kind of luck Iruka had. He groaned and stooped to check the unconscious man for a pulse. It was slow, a little erratic, but still very much there.

"I swear if you're faking..." the chunin muttered, prodding the man's shoulder. "Kakashi-sensei, you're not allowed to die in front of my house and make me feel guilty, so wake your ass up."

The jounin groaned and turned his head towards the chunin's voice. Iruka let out a sigh of relief. "We need to get you to the hospital, Kakashi-sensei. Can you stand?"

"Urgh." Kakashi blinked up at him with mismatched eyes and then screamed in pain and slammed his eyes shut again. After a moment, the copy-nin opened one blue eye and stared at him with it, still dazed. The chunin sighed as he realized the man's chakra level must be extremely low if his sharringan was causing him so much pain.

Iruka shook his head and lifted the disoriented man to his feet, throwing one arm over his shoulder. He ignored the grunts of pain and prayed to whatever gods were listening that he wasn't doing more harm than good.

"Grant a dying man his last wish?" Kakashi asked, grinning. Iruka tightened his hold to keep the man from falling, and the grin quickly changed to a grimace.

"If you don't stop, you won't be dying, you'll be dead," Iruka muttered, though the words held no bite. It was hard to threaten Kakashi when the man was already in a great deal of pain.

They walked in silence towards the hospital for awhile, and Iruka tried to politely ignore the fact that Kakashi had his mask down. It was wrong to admire how attractive somebody was when they're bleeding all over you. At least, that's what Iruka kept telling himself.


	32. Stripes ver 1 Yuri

Title: Strives version 1  
Pairing: SakuraxTenten  
Summary: Sometimes when things go missing the thief means no harm. ;p  
Disclaimer: Kishi STILL owns Naruto and that's unlikely to ever change

Written for 100 themes, gift for Hildebrant/sketcher25

YES I /KNOW/ Tenten is being a little too Temari and Sakura is a bit well quieter than usual. That's why I wrote a different version. pouts oh well he liked it anyway so I posted it for him. Hopefully the second version is a bit less OOC.

--

"Argh! I know I left them here!" she screamed as she dumped everything out of her bag again.

"Are you sure, you brought them today, Ten-chan?" Sakura asked picking up several things that had fallen to the floor in the other girl's haste.

"I had a match today, of course I did!" Tenten snapped as she rummaged through her extra clothes looking for the missing item. "They're my lucky pair!" The brunette snatched the teeshirt her friend was holding and shoving it into the bag again. "I can't believe somebody stole my underwear!"

"Maybe they fell out. We could check the lost and found again if you want." Sakura tucked a strand of pink hair behind her ear and picked up her own bag. "You said they're blue and white striped, right?"

"They won't be there, I doubt they showed up in the five minutes since we looked the last time. Besides, I'm telling you, they were in my bag." She held the gym bag up to emphasize her point. "I'm telling you, some pervert stole them. They probably snuck in here while I was taking my shower and took them."

"Why would somebody still your underwear Ten-chan?" The pink-haired girl asked as they headed out of the lockerroom.

"They probably knew they were my lucky pair and got tired of getting their ass handed to them in weapons practice." She clenched her bag and stared at several groups of girls still standing around the gym. "That or maybe they're just a pervert. Either way, I don't care. They stole them and that's all there is to it. And when I find out who did it I'm going to... I don't know see how many kunai I can fit up their ass!"

"Maybe you shouldn't spend so much time around Temari. You're starting to pick up her bad habits." Sakura frowned, her irritation evident in her voice.

"Sorry, I have another match in two days and if they don't turn up by then..." Her words trailed off and she hiked her bag higher on her shoulder.

"I'm sure you'll find them by then." She smiled and shoved her hands in her pockets. The satin brushed her finger tips and let her eyes close for the briefest moment. "I bet somebody just picked them up by accident."


	33. Stripes ver 2 Yuri

Title: Stripes Version 2  
Pairing: TentenxSakura  
Summary: Sleep-overs are fun!  
Disclaimer: Kishi-sama still owns Naruto... we all know this.

Written for 100 themes, gift for Hildebrant/sketcher25

--

Tenten shifted on the bed wigging her toes and admiring the fresh nail polish. "How do you do that, Sakura-chan?"

"It's nothing really. I mean the stickers keep the lines straight it's just making sure to let the first coat dry all the way before adding the topcoat," the pink-haired girl answered without looking up from her own nails.

"You make it sound so easy." She leaned back against her pillows and watched her best friend scrunch her nose in concentration. She couldn't help but think of how cute the expression was. "I'm not good at girlie things. I try but the only time anything comes out right is when you're here to do it for me."

"You're exagerating," Sakura said blowing on her nails. "After you're the one who came up with the idea to make our nails match our underwear. That's pretty girlie."

"I guess," she said smiling half-heartedly. "Still I wish I was more like you. You're pretty and you can kick ass."

"You're pretty too Ten-chan." The other girl said, chewing on her lower lip and staring at the pink and blue poka dots on them.

Tenten shifted again, this time moving to sit beside her friend. "Sakura?"

"Yeah?" Bright green eyes turned to look at her and the brunette swallowed audibly.

"Have you ever kissed a girl?" She was surprised she had actually asked and her stomach clenched nervously as the other girl's eyes widened in surprise.

Sakura blushed a soft pink that made her cheeks glow slightly. "No."

"Want to?" she asked leaning forward just a little and fully expecting the other girl to push her away.

"Um... okay," Sakura said finally, her pink tongue darting out to lick her lips.

There was the barest hint of hesitation from the brunette before she closed the small gap and pressed her lips to the other girls, her eyes closing of their own accord. It surprised Tenten that she could smell the cherry lipgloss the other girl was wearing and she opened her mouth slightly to lap at the soft lips. The taste seemed different from when she wore it, sweeter somehow.

A quiet gasp escaped Sakura and reached out to steady herself as the other leaned into the kiss. Her hand sliding over the curve of hip to trace the edge of the girls blue and white striped panties. The slick feel of the satin drew her attention even as Tenten pressed closer to her as she slid her tongue alongside Sakura's. She could feel slightly goosepimpled flesh where her fingers brushed the other girl's skin.

There was a light tap at the door. "Girls?" Sakura and Tenten jumped apart, blushing and giggling slightly.

"Yeah?" Sakura asked, getting up to open the door for her mom.

"I brought you some hot chocolate." Her mom handed her the tray and smiled over at Tenten. "Now don't stay up to late talking about boys. You girls need your rest."

"Don't worry we won't."


	34. Questioning

Title: Questioning  
Pairing: Kakashi x Iruka  
Summary: Sequel to Rejection and Flowers  
Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto I just own a twisted mind and a plot. ;p

Written for 100 themes, gift for Vescas

Iruka stuck the flowers in a jar and filled it with water and placed the strange looking bouquet on the counter. "Thank you," the brunette said, pulling out the teapot and filling it with water.

"I'm..." Kakashi shifted nervously and Iruka wondered if the man had ever appologized before. "...sorry. It's just your..." he paused again, obviously considering his words "offer caught me off guard."

"It's alright. Really, I should have known better so it was my own fault," he said, setting the water on to boil. "I mean, it's not as though it wasn't obvious; what with you carrying that damn orange book everywhere."

"I like the story," he said, leaning against the wall.

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to insult your reading choices. I just meant that it should have been obvious since..." He let his words trail off as he pulled cups down.

"And, /I/ just meant that I read it because I enjoy the story and not just for the content." There was a disapproving note to statement and the chunin winced.

"I wasn't /implying/ you were a pervert," Iruka said gritting his teeth. "Can you stop assuming that I'm trying to insult you for one conversation?" He clenched the tea cup and stared fixedly at the counter, not daring to meet the other man's eyes.

"I'm not the one making the assumptions, so no." Kakashi's voice rose slightly and Iruka heard the man take a deep breath. "If you'd listen and for fuck's sake look at me you'd know that."

"I was listening!" Iruka yelled, turning to glare at the silver-haired man. "There! I'm looking at you! Are you..." His words trailed off again as he stared at Kakashi's unmasked face.

"I'm sorry, I was an ass. I assumed it was some kind of prank and that somebody had put you up to it. And, I thought I was so damn clever to realize it, /so/ I said the most hurtful things I could think of." Kakashi's voice shook with anger and regret and Iruka stared dumbstruck at the man. "I didn't come here to start another fight with you, so could you /please/ stop putting words into my mouth. I assure you I'm quite capable of making an ass of myself, you don't need to do it for me. In case that wasn't already apparent."

"Oh!" Iruka blushed, embarrassed by his own stupidity. "Uh... nobody 'put me up to it,' just so you know."

"I know and I really am sorry for questioning your motives." Kakashi smiled hesitantly and Iruka felt his chest tighten at the sight. "I'd like to make it up to you if you'll let me." The chunin nodded slightly, unsure of what to say. "Over dinner then?"

"Okay..." Iruka said, still in shock. "Uh... your mask?"

Kakashi's smile grew and Iruka was amazed he managed to stay standing. "It got you to shut up didn't it?"

Iruka blushed again and turned to finish making the tea. "Oh."


	35. Silence

Title: Silence  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Sequel and final part to Rejection, Flowers, Questioning  
Disclaimer: the characters are /still/ Kishi's imagine that

for Vescas and part of 100 themes

"The food's good. A little..." Iruka poked at the remains of his dish as though it would offer up the word he was searching for. "formal for my usual taste."

"Oh." Nothing was going according to plan and Kakashi, for once, wasn't sure what to do about it. He was normally good at thinking on his feet, changing plans at the last moment and having everything turn out alright. So, the fact that he was at a loss for what to do, bothered him. Deeply.

Kakashi shifted uncomfortably in his seat, trying to think of something to say. The conversation kept falling into odd little lulls and he was starting to realize that without Team 7 around that it was very quiet.

He hadn't been on very many dates. Rin had foribly dragged him on two, neither of which had been particularly enjoyable. He'd avoided the things after that. Now, he had the added pressure of caring whether the person with him actually enjoyed himself.

"So..." Kakashi considered all the topics they'd already exhausted. Every one of them had fallen into the same silence for one reason or another.

"Can we just..." The chunin sighed, and glanced around the crowded restaurant. "...go?"

The walk back to Iruka's was filled with silence. It dragged on and Kakashi felt it tightening around him. Tonight was supposed to make up for things and it seemed as though he'd managed to screw up even this small thing.

Iruka's doorstep loomed in front of them and the panic rose in throat again and he wondered how he could possibly fix things before they reached them. "Uh..." he sighed, still searching for the words he wanted. "I can't even seem to keep a conversation going unless we're fighting."

"You know, not every silence needs to be filled with words." Iruka said, stopping in front of the steps. "I enjoy your company, Kakashi. Sometimes, that's enough."

"You enjoy fighting with me?" He frowned, scratching the back of his head nervously.

The chunin shook his head in amusement. "Would you just accept that, despite your terrible choice in restaurants, I had fun tonight? You're appology last night was enough; tonight was nice, but... strange." Iruka's smile faded and he looked away, his voice falling to nearly a whisper. "It almost felt like a date, and that was nice, albeit strange."

Kakashi swallowed nervously and slid his mask down. "Iruka..." He took a step forward as the chunin looked up. "It was a date." Leaning foward he caught the surprised man's mouth with, cupping the chunin's face with his hands.

When Iruka finally overcame his shock and pulled him closer, Kakashi decided it was true... not every silence needed words.


	36. Author's Note

This is just a note to let people know that - Cat - has been made into a doujin.

Links: (just remove the spaces)

DA: http: /sumihatake.deviantart. com/art/Cat-doujin-cover-colored-97322258

Y-gal: http: /yaoi.y-gallery. net/view/461225/

LJ: http: /community.livejournal. com/kakairu/2077496.html#cutid1


	37. Waiting

Title: Waiting  
Pairing: KakashixIruka  
Summary: Uh I dunno how to explain this one without giving it away...  
Disclaimer: Kishimoto STILL owns Kakashi and Iruka but they own me. .

For 100 themes and for Durgas cuz she made me cry recently so she gets the emo short.

--

It had been his fault entirely and he knew it. He'd had a bad day and he wasn't sure if it had been something the other had said or done that set him off. He wasn't even sure if Kakashi /had/ done anything.

/He/ on the other hand had done all of the yelling, accusing, and well throwing. When Kakashi had simply stood there instead of... responding, Iruka had only gotten angrier. Then Kakashi had left, without a word, and he'd kind of deflated after that.

When his boyfriend hadn't returned even days later the chunin had begun to wonder if he ever would. Over a week had passed without a sign of the jounin. And, Iruka hadn't managed to get the courage up to find him, apologize, and see if it was over.

So, it caught him by surpise when Kakashi fell into step beside him on his walk home from the mission room. They continued walking in silence for awhile before Kakashi stepped in front of him forcing him to stop.

"I'm tired of waiting, Iruka."

"I understand." He frowned and bit down on the ache such a simple statement caused, despite knowing that they were coming. The defeated looking giving away more of his thoughts than the words had.

"Do you even remember how this started?

The chunin shook his head, resigned the feeling of loss that was slowly overwhelming him. It bothered him that he'd gotten so lost in the emotions he couldn't even recall the words.

"Then if you can't remember..." Pale fingers tilted his chin, forcing him to look up. "Can we just forget it happened?"

Iruka's eyes widened in surpise at the words and the slight smile on the other's unmasked lips.

"After all... if you can't even remember why we're fighting it must not have been important." The single blue eye was rimmed with red and he wondered if it was from lack of sleep or tears. Either way it hurt knowing he was the cause.

"You remember..." He didn't bother to clarify knowing Kakashi would understand.

"Yes." Kakashi's hand dropped to loop around the chunin's waist, pulling him close. "But it's not as important as you," the jounin whispered the words against carmel skin. "Besides, I'm tired of waiting for you to apologize for words you've forgotten."

Iruka snuggled into the embrace, ignoring the silent tears sliding down his cheeks. He was tired of waiting too... for the courage to apologize.

"Let's go home," Iruka murmured, relieved they'd survived their first fight.

This is just a note to let people know that - Cat - has been made into a doujin.

Links: (just remove the spaces)

DA: http: /sumihatake.deviantart. com/art/Cat-doujin-cover-colored-97322258

Y-gal: http: /yaoi.y-gallery. net/view/461225/

LJ: http: /community.livejournal. com/kakairu/2077496.html#cutid1


	38. Hero

Title: Hero  
Pairing: KakaIru, IruGai  
Summary: The next sequel to Horror, Give Up, Seeing Red, Dying  
Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto... we all know this or at least we  
should by now.

Dedicated to Beasiesgal and written for 100 themes.

Iruka stopped dead, just inside the door to the mission room, quickly calculating his chances of escape. The various shinobi singing, slightly off-key, made it apparent, however, that he was doomed.

"For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow! For he's a jolly good fellow, which nobody can deny! Which nobody can deny, which nobody can deny! For he's a jolly good fellow, which nobody can deny!"

Iruka uncovered his ears as the song ended, glaring at Gai; who stood in middle of the crowded room, giving one of his good guy poses. It looked like every other good guy pose, but was probably assigned a number to differentiate some meaningless and imperceptible difference. Despite the fact that it was obvious that he was the one who organized the party, due to the massive number of green decorations, Iruka somehow doubted he was the originator of the idea.

He sighed as the man lead him around, proclaiming what a hero he was, and how his true value is underestimated. Iruka wondered, for a moment, what the hell the man was talking about. Then the answer came to him, and he ground his teeth together. Kakashi. It didn't explain it entirely, but there was no doubt in the chunin's mind that it was tied to his dragging the man to the hospital.

Gai led him very deliberately through the crowd, stopping often to allow various people to slap the chunin on the back and or hand him gifts. Most of which were quite obviously booze and meant to be consumed before the night was over.

"Came for the booze," Anko informed him a moment before swiping one of the 'gifts' he was holding.

"And, to see which one you'd kill first," Genma said, slapping him on the back, senbon twitching between the amused tokubetsu's lips.

"I dunno, I think he deserves it. Iruka puts up with us better than anyone. Not to mention all those kids." Asuma shoved another bottle in his arms.

"Especially, when you consider he's friends with two of the most... trying men around," Ibiki added, smirking at Gai, who was still grinning and rambling about Iruka's 'heroic greatness'.

It took nearly half an hour before they reached the back of the crowd, where Kakashi was leaning against the wall, reading his god awful orange book. The copy-nin looked up from his reading material and smiled. "My Hero."

Iruka wondered if having over fifty witnesses was truly a bad thing when contemplating murder. After all, they would all be able to attest that he did, in fact, lose his mind, which could work to his defense.

Gai slapped his back, knocking him out of his thoughts as he struggled not to drop everything. Then, he was being dragged away again. He was glad he'd saved the man's life, because if he hadn't, he wouldn't be able to kill him. Which he, quite frankly, planned to do /very/ soon.


	39. Precious Treasure

Title: Precious Treasure  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Sequel to Horror, Give Up, Seeing Red, Dying, Hero  
Disclaimer: Naruto and it's characters belong to Kishimoto-sama I only  
play with them

Written for Beasiesgal and 100 themes

Kakashi swung the medallion in front of the frantic chunin. "Is /this/ what you've been looking for?" He laughed as the necklace was snatched from his grasp.

"You found it!" Iruka's eyes went wide, a smile spreading across his features. He nearly knocked the other over as he slid a hand through the silver locks and pulled the jounin in, planting a hard kiss on the cloth covered lips before pulling back to look at the necklace again.

His brow furrowed, the smile fading as he glanced from the necklace to the copy-nin.

Iruka swung a fist at the jounin, who caught it, twisted, and swung the chunin onto the desk. The brunette's back ached slightly from the force; and, he glared up at the man as he yanked on his other arm, which was caught underneath his back by Kakashi's other hand.

"First you kiss me, then you attack me?" Kakashi chuckled softly, shaking his head.

"You took it, didn't you?" It was more of an accusation than a question.

The jounin laughed and shook his head. "Now, /why/ would I do that?"

"Because you're a jerk." Iruka said, squirming as he tried to get himself out from beneath the copy-nin; but, the man was standing between his legs, and he couldn't get his footing.

Kakashi moaned, his eyes sliding shut for a brief moment. "Stop, moving." He swallowed hard and Iruka could see the light blush just visible above the line of the mask.

The chunin grinned. "Then let me go, you pervert." The tone was far more teasing than he'd intended it to be.

"I'm not the one rubbing himself against an 'innocent' bystander," Kakashi purred, nuzzling the chunin's neck, seemingly over his previous embarrassment.

"I was /not/ rubbing myself against you, and you're /not/ innocent," Iruka growled, despite the blush darkening his features. "Now, get off of me!"

"I dunno, I kind of like this position..." And, as though to drive his point home, the silver-haired man pressed harder against the chunin. Iruka visibly paled as a soft whimper escaped his lips.

Regaining his composure, he fixed the masked shinobi with a glare. "I'm not going to sleep with you just so you can one up Gai."

"That's fine, because this has nothing to do with Gai." Kakashi released his hold on the arm tucked behind Iruka's back and used the now free hand to pull down his mask. "Now, can we get back to rewarding me for finding your precious treasure? And, I really did /just/ happen to find it."

To his credit, Kakashi didn't wait for the other to answer before capturing the man's lips with his own. And, Iruka was first too surprised, and then too distracted, to wonder if it truly had nothing to do with the man's rival.


	40. Keeping A Secret

Title: Keeping a Secret  
Pairing: KakaIru, GaiIru, and possibly IbikiGai  
Summary: Final part to Horror, Give Up, Seeing Red, Dying, Hero,  
Precious Treasure  
Disclaimer: Naruto is still Kishi's but we can still play with them  
for our own amusement.

written for 100 themes and Beasiesgal

Ibiki stood beside Gai and watched the two men making out on the mission desk, an amused smirk on his lips. "I've never known you to /not/ put every effort into winning those little contests with Hatake. So, why help him now?"

The green clad man merely grinned, not even turning to look at him. Ibiki had known from the start that Gai wasn't serious about the contest. Or, rather, he knew it was against the man's strange sense of ethics to fight over the chunin's heart, especially knowing how his rival felt about the young sensei.

"Why make it a contest to begin with?" The scarred jounin wasn't sure if he should expect an answer or not. When Gai was in the mood, he was damn good at keeping his secrets; and, generally, Ibiki refused to push the issues. Besides, figuring out the other's rather unusual logic had become a sort of game between the two of them.

His friend didn't even glance at him as he turned and walked away, still smiling. Ibiki decided it was probably something about Kakashi having to earn the chunin's affections, or maybe Gai simply wanted the silver-haired man to put forth some actual effort. Though, it was also possible Gai simply wanted a reason to irritate both of his friends. He couldn't be for sure, but those seemed to fit the man's logic as well as anything.

"Isn't it a bit /un-ethical/ to steal from your friends?" Ibiki said, attempting again to understand the reason for the man's actions.

"It would be very un-youthful and despicable to do so." Gai's reply was surprisingly quiet, but the grin only widened.

They walked for awhile, Ibiki contemplating the situation, and Gai grinning like an idiot. "How did you know it would work?" He asked finally.

"It's his mother's necklace." The fact that the man actually answered the question surprised him. That Gai knew the significance of the trinket didn't even phase him. The interrogator already knew the two men had been childhood friends.

"So..." Ibiki smirked, the puzzle pieces falling into place. "That's why he kissed you?"

The smile twitched almost imperceptibly in the dark, but it was the very slight blush that gave him his answer. Despite appearances, Gai was generally quite good at keeping secrets when he wanted. Still, it was just a matter of asking the right questions and knowing there were some things no one could hide. And, even as they entered the apartment, he had to wonder what else the man was hiding beneath the overly loud persona he presented the world.


	41. Last Hope

Title: Last Hope

Genre: FLUFF!

Pairing: KakaIru

Summary: Symptoms don't lie

Disclaimer: Nope I still don't own Naruto... shock.

Dedicated to Lenap written for 100 themes

-

Iruka wasn't sure when it had happened but there was no doubt as to his feelings. He had thought the tightness in his chest would fade over time. Instead it was joined by a light blush that seemed to dust his cheeks at the most inopportune times. Then, as though that wasn't enough, there had been the tingle like a small electrical shock that shot up his spine at the slightest physical contact. There was even a shakey feeling to his knees that worried him. But, the most unsettling feeling was when his breath caught in his throat, seemingly stuck just below his vocal cords.

At first he tried to ignore the symptoms but that only seemed to make them worse. Then he tried to reason them away. Anxiety, stress, or a million other little excuses that seemed to fit each individual 'spell.' But, it eventually became obvious that these were very much excuses and he only needed them when 'he' was around.

Realizing the truth, he'd avoided the man, hoping it would solve the problem. This only served to give him a whole new list of symptoms none of which were anywhere near as pleasant as the previous ones had been. It started with a bad mood and ended with one, but in between those two were others. He knew he was distracted, anxious, and far less patient than was normal for him.

Iruka tried to convince himself that it was pointless, that the other wasn't interested. And, despite the rather convincing argument he'd formed some small part of him kept piping up with a 'But he might be..." and he'd have to start the arguement with himself all over again.

And, just when he thought that maybe he'd managed to convince himself of that, he'd run into Kakashi again. The suprise had been enough to keep him from making a fool of himself. But, when the jounin had smiled and appoligized for not being around... the symptoms had returned full force and he couldn't utter a word as the jounin took his hand. The brief touch was like lighting across his skin. Despite that, all he could do was stare dumbfounded as the man summoned one of his dogs and wished him luck on his mission.

Since then, it was apparent any hope he had of denying the facts was lost. He smiled and held onto his last hope, that Kakashi felt the same. It wasn't until nearly a month later that he was able to thank the man. His chest had clenched tightly, and he smiled relishing the feeling and praying it would never fade. And, clinging desperately to his feelings and hope, he'd managed to invite the silver-haired man to dinner. When Kakashi accepted all his symptoms overwhelmed him joined by a warm feeling curling low in stomach.

Iruka didn't know when it happened, but he knew when he realized it.


	42. Relaxation

Title: Relaxation  
Genre: Humor

Pairing: sorta KakaIru

Summary: Kakashi offers Iruka his help

Disclaimer: Kishimoto-sama still owns naruto now if only his publishers would let him draw NC-17 he could feed us fangirls... we know he would.

written for 100 themes dedicated to Earwen

--

"You need to relax, sensei." Kakashi leaned in, smiling at the chunin who returned the look with a glare. "You're always so... tense."

"And, I'm sure, you have no idea as to why that is." Iruka's eyebrow twitched and he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and resisting the urge to pummel the copy-nin.

"I'm actually quite certain that I know the reason..." The words held a definite note of amusement.

Iruka gritted his teeth, clenching his fist so tight his palms were likely bleeding. He knew he couldn't kill Kakashi but his traitorous brain had other plans and it kept tempting him with all kinds of fun ways to drag the man's death out.

"How about I make it up to you?" The chunin stiffened as Kakashi's breath warmed the skin on his neck. "I could help you relax..." The copy-nin whispered the words as he dragged his fingers lightly over a tan hip, startling the brunette.

Brown eyes shot open wide with surprise, the man's heart beating quicker in his chest, and he tried to take a step back only to be confronted with the wall the jounin had backed him against a few moment earlier.

"What?" Iruka's voice unintentionally pitched higher than normal as he stared in shock at the man who had, from his understanding, just propositioned him.

"Well, Sensei, maybe..." Iruka could hear the smirk in Kakashi's voice,"...if you had something else up your ass you'd remove the stick."

The red that colored the scarred cheeks was only partially from embarrassment as anger quickly welled up to replace it. The chunin's eyes slid shut, his eyebrow twitching slightly as he took a deep 'calming' breath. He ground his teeth together in irritation, a moment before planting a chakra backed fist in the copy-nin's face.

Then, while Kakashi stared at him, one hand rubbing at his abused jaw: Iruka grabbed his arm and yanked, tossing him through the open classroom door.

Slamming it shut behind the jounin, Iruka took another deep breath and realized he really did feel a lot better.


	43. Rated

Just a quick note to let you know I wrote a 500 word piece of smut for Rated but it won't be posted here due to content, IF you want to read it toss me a note for my y-gal, DA, or AFF link. Or if you already have those go check it out there.


	44. Sorrow

Title: Sorrow  
Pairing: None (possibly implied KakaIru and possibly some YonKaka -with maybe more later in the series or if you want you can squint tilt your head and maybe like waggle your ass and see KakaNaru or IruNaru but I wouldn't recommend it. ;p)  
Chapter Characters: Naruto (centers around him) Kakashi, Minato (secondary) Iruka, Sasuke, Sai, Sakura (minor part here but probably more in later chapters)  
Summary: Naruto finds out /who/ is and well was.  
Disclaimer: Wow it's amazing I still don't own Naruto and I still don't get paid to do this... but I still absolutely LOVE doing it.

"He'd be proud if he could see you right now."

Caught off guard, the young blonde spun around. "Kakashi-sensei, don't do that!" He growled. Kakashi merely smiled in response, his eye curving upward in obvious amusement. It bothered the younger man that he'd been so easily snuck up on. No matter how hard he worked, the copy-nin could seemingly appear behind him. It unnerved and irritated him, and it didn't matter that the one doing it was Hokage. Naruto's determination to surpass his teacher seemed undercut by that one fact alone.

"Come to visit your father?" Kakashi asked, walking past him to lay a flower on the memorial stone.

"Yeah..." Naruto frowned and stared at the stone again.

--

It had been explained to him months before, when the council had spoken to him. Kakashi, for once, hadn't been reading his book. Instead, the Rokudaime sat stiffly in his chair at the council table. Iruka laid a hand on the man's shoulder and his former teacher and team leader seemed to shake himself out of some reverie. Then, Kakashi had given a speech that sounded rehearsed, Iruka whispering in his ear whenever he paused.

Naruto was in a daze as he watched Kakashi approach him, Iruka trailing behind him. "My father was..." His heart clenched both from the joy and pride he felt at the revelation, and the sorrow that suddenly seemed to overwhelm him. Until now, he had only had dreams of what his father had been like. He had something more. And yet, he felt like he'd lost something that he couldn't name.

"Yes." Kakashi laid a hand on his shoulder. "Sensei never wanted you burdened by the knowledge."

Naruto swallowed, blinking back tears, overwhelmed by the shock. Then, Iruka's arms were around him, tears streaming from the chunin's eyes. Smiling, Naruto wrapped his arms around the man, taking comfort in the familiar embrace.

After awhile, his teachers lead him out of the council room where Sakura, Sai, and Sasuke joined them. Naruto grinned, laughing as he shoved Sasuke and told him what he'd just found out. Sakura's eyes went wide, and Sai tilted his head to the side, considering the revelation. Sasuke shook his head and shoved Naruto back, muttering something like idiot.

--

Pushing the memories aside, Naruto studied the impassive face of the man standing beside him, but his former teacher's expression remained as it always was, unreadable. Kakashi gave away only what he chose to. Sometimes, it aggravated the blonde. Right now, however, with the anniversary of his birthday looming over him... it was a blessing.

"Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto frowned, unsure of whether he should ask the question that had settled like a dead weight inside of his heart since he'd found out.

"He was a great man, Naruto, and I don't just mean as Hokage or as my sensei," Kakashi said as though reading his mind.

And, for once, Naruto felt at ease simply listening.


	45. Memory

Title: Memory

Pairing: None

Genre: er angsty humor mostly humor... I guess

Summary: Naruto discovers more about who his father was

Disclaimer: Wish I owned but sadly I don't and I don't get paid to do this either.

Written for 100 themes and the YonKaka comm, dedicated to zhem

--

Kakashi knelt in front of the chest, staring at the smoothly polished top. Then, taking a deep breath, the silver-haired nin opened it. Everything was just as it always was, and he ran his fingers over the top to dispel the jutsu. "Sensei left these in my care."

Naruto didn't answer, but he took a hesitant step forward and peered into the box. There were several photo albums lying on top, and he picked one up. The leather cover was well cared for, although the creases were deep. Settling beside Kakashi, he opened it.

"She's my mother?" His voice was calm as he traced the edge of the photo.

"Kushina." Kakashi didn't elaborate.

"What was she like?" Naruto looked up, wondering what the other man was thinking.

"You. She was like you," Kakashi chuckled softly, shaking his head. "Just as loud, just as impulsive, but slightly less dense."

Naruto scowled playfully and shoved on his sensei's arm and continued looking through the album, occasionally stopping to ask a question. Flipping the page of another album, Naruto stared at one of the photos and then up at Kakashi then squinting down at the picture again before he burst out laughing.

Kakashi snatched the album away and looked at the photo of himself. It had been taken sometime after his father had died, and he was scowling, although only his eyes were visible.

"You colored the mask on!" Naruto laughed, rolling around on the floor.

"So!" The copy-nin didn't know why he was offended, only that having his student laughing at him seemed wrong somehow. Kakashi had forgotten how, after he'd started wearing his mask, he'd gone through and very methodically blacked out all the pictures with his face showing.

He set the album aside and waited for Naruto to regain control of himself, then very carefully reached in and pulled out the one item that was most precious to him. Reluctantly, he held it out to the young blond.

Naruto unfolded it and stood up to look at it better. His eyes went wide as he realized what it was. Hesitantly, and with Kakashi's help, he put it on. Studying himself in the mirror, he looked questioningly at his former sensei. "I really do look like him, don't I?"

He watched as Kakashi took a step back, not saying a word. Naruto took one final look before slipping it off and folding it up again, while Kakashi stared at him, unable to speak.

"You should keep it," Naruto said, holding it out.

Kakashi didn't move to accept the gift and, instead, stood there staring at him and frowning.

Naruto grinned and shoved it into his arms. "Besides, I'm going to get an even better one because I'm going to be the greatest hokage ever. Better than you and better than my father even! Dattebayo!"

Kakashi smiled then, accepting the gift. 'You don't just look like him,' he thought, though the words went unvoiced.


	46. Abandoned

Title: Abandoned

Pairing: None but has Minato and Kakashi and mentions Sakumo and Kushina

Genre: ANGST (I made myself sad)

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto and/or got paid to do this I wouldn't do anything else

Dedicated to Zhem 1x5

Minato sighed, crossing his arms as he leaned against the door frame. His coffee table was covered in very neat and precise stacks of photos, each sitting on top of the leather bound album it belonged to. "Those weren't yours to destroy, Kakashi."

"They were of me, and I didn't destroy them," the young boy said, scowling and attempting to look intimidating, despite the black marks covering his hands and the visible part of his face.

Shaking his head, the blond moved to the table and began very carefully picking the pictures up and returning them to the appropriate album. The gray-blue eyes watched him, though Kakashi didn't move to help, the boy's anger visible in the stiff way he held himself. Neither spoke and the silence dragged on as each picture was carefully put away.

Minato stared at a photo of the two of them that Kushina had taken nearly six months ago. They'd taken him on a picnic to get him out of the oppressive atmosphere of his family home. Sakumo had slipped further into his depression, refusing to even eat the meals his son fixed for him. For a few brief hours, Kakashi had seemed almost happy again. Tears stung his eyes, and Minato brushed them away before sliding the picture back into its place.

"Sensei..." Kakashi's voice was soft, and, when the jounin looked up, his student's eyes met his for the briefest moment before the 9 year old looked away. "...I would have put them away." His young charge hung his head, looking more depressed than ashamed.

"It's alright, Kashi-kun." He pulled the unresisting boy into his arms and held him as tears streamed down his face.

"I hate him." Kakashi's voice shook, and Minato could feel a damp spot forming on his shoulder.

"I know." He knew it wasn't true, but he understood the pain and anger his student felt. Only now, staring at the marred pictures, did Minato truly understand how much it must hurt for the boy to look in the mirror every morning. "I miss him, too."


	47. Broken Pieces

Title: Broken Pieces  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Falling in love...  
Disclaimer: Yes yes it's amazing! Kishi /still/ owns Naruto. shock As though we don't all know this.

Written for 100 themes and 100 Ways To Fall In Love Also dedicated to Lenap

A/N posting it because I'm bookmarking it for all my 100 themes stuff so it's easier to find. Sorry.

Most days it felt like his heart was broken into pieces. There was one for his mother even though the only thing he could recall of her was her scent. A piece for his father that seemed to ache even when he'd pushed all his emotions away in a vain attempt make it stop. Then of course there was the piece that belong to Obito, stolen so secretly he hadn't realized it was gone until the boy it belonged to was as well. One for Rin, although he'd never quite understood the reason he'd given it to her as a going away present when he couldn't love her while she was alive. The largest piece belonged to Minato and suited the man who likely didn't need it since he was loved by everyone. There was even a sliver for Kushina who smelled too much like his mother, or maybe just too much like a mother, and occupied far too much of his sensei's time.

In the end, when he considered how much of himself he'd given away to ghost he could never let rest... it felt as though there was nothing left. He wasn't even sure he knew who he was anymore, or that he'd even known to begin with. Usually though, it didn't bother him. Living for somebody else seemed the best thing to do when they could no longer live for themselves. For whatever reason this never seemed to apply to his own life.

"I don't think I have enough of my heart left to really love someone..." Kakashi murmured into the brown hair of the man he'd been spending a steadily increasing amount of time with, with little explanation as to why.

"That's okay, I'll just give you mine then. I've had it long enough. It's really big too so you'll be able to love lots of people, including me who will have nothing left," Iruka had chuckled.

"What about Naruto? If you have no heart then you won't love him anymore," he laughed, getting caught up in the silly nonsense of the chunin's words.

Iruka sighed dramatically, threading his fingers though Kakashi's. "I suppose... you'll just have to love him for me."

"Do I have to buy him ramen?" Even as the words left his mouth, the world seemed fuzzier and more distant and he could feel himself on the edge of sleep.

"Mmmhmm..." Iruka yawned before drifting off himself.

And now, years later, curled up in the same warm embrace, he knew. It had been in that ridiculous moment that he'd fallen in love. The knowledge was as overwhelming as it was obvious, and he whispered the words knowing full well that he'd been wrong back then. His heart had been broken but somewhere between the first time they'd kissed and then... Iruka had managed to patch it back together.

"I know," Iruka murmured simply, snuggling closer. "I always did."


	48. Do Not Disturb

Title: Do Not Disturb

Genre: Humor

Pairing: KakaIru

Summary: Being Hokage is tough job, especially when you have such a demanding assistant.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishi, I merely use the characters for my own perverted amusement.

Written for 100 themes and dedicated to Micah because she got me started on the office smex (well again).

"Hokage-sama will be busy for the next several hours, if you could hold all inquiries for the next couple of hours, it would be appreciated. He's been putting off going over these reports for months now and the meeting with the elders is tomorrow, it would be best if he went over them before then," Iruka told the ANBU guard standing outside.

"We understand Umino-san," Cat answered, inclining his head slightly.

The brunette smiled warmly, shifting the papers in his arms and opening the door. "Unless it's an emergecny, direct them to Naruto. He needs to learn how to resolve some of these problems himself if he ever intends to take Kakashi-san's place." And with that he slipped inside the hokage chambers.

---

"If I don't have those reports memorized by now, I'll just use the sharringan and memorize them tomorrow." Kakashi didn't even bother to glance up from his book.

"But Hokage-sama... I /really/ think you should consider looking them over one last time," Iruka practically purred before dropping the papers in the chair across from Kakashi's desk.

"Well if you think it's important, I suppose I can tear myself away from my book," he said, setting the orange book to the side as the brunette slid around the desk.

"Wouldn't want you to be unprepared." The chunin pushed Kakashi's feet of the desk and slid onto his lap. "And I even made sure you wouldn't be disturbed so it would be a shame to waste this time on a book."

"You did, did you?" the rokudaime laughed, shaking his head slightly.

"Mmmhmm..." Iruka shoved the hat off his boyfriend's head and pulled the man's mask down before promptly burying his face against the pale neck. "Told 'em it would take hours," he murmured nipping lightly at Kakashi's ear and down his jaw.

"Such a slave driver, but what can I do?" he asked, just before wrapping his hands around the younger man's hips and pulling him closer. "Mmm... I think the council would be very disappointed if I didn't look those reports over one last time..."

He laughed as Iruka pulled back and glared playfully at him. "Screw the council, you can pay very good attention to your closest advisor so that he makes sure you're on time for their foolish meeting."

Kakashi chuckled before pulling his lover close for another kiss, secretly wondering how it was that he was the one considered to be the 'corrupting influence' in their relationship. Not that he'd ever tell, after all he wouldn't want the council to get the idea to replace Iruka, after all then he might have to actually do some work.


	49. Words

Title: Words

Pairing: KakaIru

Summary: Sometimes only a few words are needed.

Disclaimer: Amazing... Kishi still owns them.

Written for 100 themes and Dedicated to Lenap (I'm going to do a YamaIru version for Alienpoki and Kristal but I know I have a lot of readers who are KakaIru fans and so since I could I wrote it this way too)

-------

"Yo," Kakashi said, handing over a crumpled report.

"Hi." Iruka shook his head, sighing as he made a few corrections and stamped it ready to filed. "Thank you for your hard work."

"You..." He frowned as he was pushed aside by three overly enthusiastic genin who thrust a mud covered sheet of paper at the chunin. Iruka laughed and pointed them over to a table in the corner, telling them to write it over.

"Me?" The brown eyes held confussion as he turned back to the copy-nin.

"Yes, and me," Kakashi clarified just as Genma and Kotetsu came in.

"Ah, of course." Understanding lit the chunin's face before he frowned and turned to yell at the two who were now arguing and laughing over something that sounded vaguely to be about sexual positions and flexibility of shinobi. When they turned to look at him, Iruka pointed at the three wide-eyed genin who blushed beat red as the adults attention shifted to them.

"Lunch?" He asked, while the others seemed distracted.

"No." Iruka sighed as Kotetsu stuck his tongue out at the young sensei and began arguing with his comrad again. This time they substituted the more vulgar words with what would have been innocuous ones if not for the obvious context.

"..." Kakashi shrugged to express an indifference he didn't feel, and moved to leave.

"Wait?" The single word stopped the jounin in his tracks and shifted his weight nervously as Iruka walked over and smacked both Genma and Kotetsu upside their heads before grabbing their report and shoving them out the door.

"Dinner?" A light blush colored the tanned man's cheeks and Kakashi relaxed.

"Even better." He ignored the children openly staring at him. "When?"

"Tonight?" Iruka asked, then turned to scold the children about their manners.

"What time should be here?" The grin under his mask was visible he knew, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to care if he look like a fool.

"Seven, my place?" Kakashi nodded as Iruka excused himself and marched over to yell at the kids about how if they have time to stick their nose in other people's business they had time to finish their report. He slipped out of the room unnoticed and wondering whether if he hurried he could get a reservation for someplace nice.


	50. Childhood

Title: Childhood  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Halloween isn't fun for everyone, but it should be.  
Disclaimer: Amazing! I /still/ don't own Naruto and god damn it if he kills Kakashi the fangirls may mob him and then it won't matter if he owns it.

Written for 100 themes and the contests on Y-gal in The Kakashi Club AND Scarecrow and Dolphin. Dedicated to HikariShiroki cuz I wanted to write something for her and I know she likes them.

"Haven't you ever been trick or treating, Kakashi?" Iruka asked as he tossed another bag of candy in his basket.

"No," the jounin said continuing to follow him through the store. "I don't like sweets."

The brunet laughed and shook his head. "I do but that's not the best part about Halloween."

"Let me guess, you prefered the trick end of that phrase?" Kakashi's eye curved up in amusement even as the chunin turned and stuck his tongue out at him.

"Maybe..." He picked up a package of fake webbing, studying it closer than was required. "And /maybe/ I still do." Grinning, he tossed it in the bag. "Want to help me hand out candy at the Academy Halloween party? If the way you tormented you team is any indication... you'd enjoy it even more than me."

When he looked back at the other man though, he frowned. Kakashi looked stangely serious and distant, and Iruka knew that was rarely a good thing.

"You know, they say the dead are closer to the living on Halloween," Kakashi said, looking away.

Iruka shifted the basket to his other arm and slipped his hand into Kakashi's, squeezing lightly. "They're never far away no matter what the day happens to be."

"Hn..." The last month had darkened the shadows in the man's expressive eyes, and Iruka had no doubt this time of year was always hard for him.

"Come have fun with me. After all if what you've told me of them is true, they'd want you to." For a moment Iruka worried that he'd crossed a line, but then the saddness disappeared from his lover's face and he relaxed.

"You're right, they would," Kakashi said before picking up a can of black silly string and tossing it in the basket. "So what did you have in mind, sensei?"

Iruka laughed and pulled Kakashi towards the check out. "I'll tell you over dinner, at my place, after all we wouldn't want anyone to overhear..." He had days left to plan the party for the kids. Tonight, however, he had something else in mind.


	51. Annoyance

Title: Annoyance

Pairing: YamaIru

Summary: Yamato has a very direct way of dealing with annoyances

Disclaimer: Amazing! I still don't own Naruto.

Dedicated to Alienpoki and written for 100 themes

----

"Hello, Iruka-sensei." Yamato said as he handed over the scroll with Team Kakashi's mission report in it.

"Hi." Iruka smiled softly up at him, before pulling out the report and going over it quickly and stamping it complete. "Thank you for your hard work."

"I was wondering..." Yamato frowned as he was abruptly interupted by a loud crash and shouting. He turned to glare at the intruders and sighed as his senpai very carefully stepped over the rubble and Gai who was lying on his back staring up at the ceiling looking rather dazed.

"Do you deliberately destroy everything you touch?" Iruka half yelled as he stormed over to the pair.

Kakashi shrugged and held out a mangled mission report in answer. Gai on the other hand started cheefully appologizing for their youthful wrecklessness. From what Yamato could gather of the man's explanation he had challenged Kakashi to a match in the hall and when he'd charged his rival, the man had stepped aside, grabbed his wrist, and thrown him through the wall. Kakashi insisted he'd merely been assisting Gai in turning in his report and that it wasn't his fault the wall had stepped out of nowhere and gotten in the way. By the time the two men finished speaking, Iruka's face was beat red with anger and a vein in his forhead looked ready to explode.

Sighing Yamato flashed through the hand signs and repaired the damage done by the other two. It wasn't that he minded, but he suspected Kakashi had used his rival's challenge as a means to interupt and thereby spy on his conversation with Iruka. The smirk on his senpai's face was visible even through the mask, at least to him and he wondered if that too wasn't deliberate. But the smile Iruka turned on him made it worth it.

"Thank you, Yamato-san," the brunet said before turning to glare at again at Kakashi and Gai.

"You're welcome," he returned calmly, wondering how the copy-nin had known he was even here but decided he didn't care.

"You were saying?" Iruka asked, looking at him again obviously deciding to ignore the other two. Yamato however had, had it with the nosey jounin and quickly formed the handsigns again, smiling as the wooden cage shot out of the floor to surround the intruders.

"Dinner?" He asked finally.

"Sure, I get off at 8." Iruka chuckled and motioned to the cage with a slight nod. "And, as much as I'd love to leave them in there for awhile at least, don't forget to let them out on your way."

"Senpai's a genius, I'm sure he could figure his own way out... eventually," Yamato said, smirking.

"I'm sure. However, they'd likely destroy half the building in the process."

He conceded the point and very reluctantly released his prisoners before heading out to find a way to ditch his two stalkers and keep them away while he had his date.


	52. Expectations

_**Expectations**_  
Title: Expectations  
Pairing: KakaIru though this is more about Kakashi and Pakkun than it is Iruka  
Summary: There were expectations and Kakashi obviously doesn't understand them  
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto do you /think/ Kakashi would be on the verge of death? no.

Written for 100 themes and dedicated to my Russian friends who read the fics that Lenap translates. I wanted them to know I appreciate them too!

Iruka smiled, watching his best friend argue with his summon. It entertained him to listen to the arguments the two got into even though more times than not it was Kakashi who won. On the few occassions that the dog won it was because it was something minor and Iruka was able to intervene with a coin toss or something similar. The brunet wasn't about to tell his boyfriend that he rigged the coin toss. Nor that he was really only trying to get on Pakkun's good side so the mutt wouldn't do something horribly like use his shoes in place of a tree. Of course, Iruka wasn't about to step in and ruin the fun too soon. Plus, he'd had a long day and he was enjoying the show.

Currently the arguement was about how chicken was better for the pug than steak. However, Pakkun was having none of it, and shoved the bowl away with a paw.

Kakashi shoved it back, the motion caused a piece of meat roll off the top of the pile and onto the table. "You're not getting any younger mutt; you need to take better care of yourself."

"I'll have you know I'm not /that/ old!" Pakkun growled with a surprising amount of volume, before promptly shoving the bowl away for what had to be hundredth time.

The copy-nin glowered and pushed the bowl back. "You're twenty, that's /old/ for a /dog/."

A paw pushed the bowl back even before Kakashi's hand left it which resulted in a miniture shoving match. "I'm not just /a dog/. I'm a ninken and a summon and that's not old for us!"

Iruka snickered and covered his mouth in hopes of muffling the sound. Although he likely could have been out-right laughing and neither would have noticed the way the argument was going.

"In dog years that 140!" The jounin's voice rose for a moment as he finally began to lose his composure.

"Well, in /nin-ken/ years it's 20," Pakkun sniffed indignantly.

Kakashi sighed, pulled his hand away from the little reverse tug-of-war, and picked up his book where it had been discarded beside them on the table over twenty minutes ago when dinner had been served. "Fine then, starve, because I'm not buying anything else."

The pug's face took on what Iruka guaged to be his version of horrified. The expression was entirely too amusing and a chuckle escaped before he could clamp down on it. To his relief neither of them noticed.

"You can't do that! We have an agreement!" Pakkun shouted finally.

Kakashi didn't glance up from his book as he replied. "Which says I feed you. It doesn't say /what/."

"There were expectations!" The pug exploded again.

"That's not my fault," Kakashi said, calmly pushing the bowl of food at the dog. "Now eat your chicken."

Iruka swallowed the laughter as Pakkun's mortified expression changed to what was quite obviously the canine version of a sulk before the mutt very grudgingly began eating the chicken.


	53. Drink

Title: Drink

Pairing: KakaIru

Summary: Sequel to RelaxationDisclaimer: Kishimoto-sama still owns naruto now if only his publishers would let him draw NC-17 he could feed us fangirls... we know he would.

Iruka groaned and continued to bang his head on the top of his desk. "I can't believe I did that..."

"Did what?" Anko asked, grinning from the doorway.

"Nothing." He immediately regretted even answering as she strolled in and leaned across his desk.

"That's not what I hear..." she said reaching out to tug at a strand of hair that had gotten free of his ponytail. "What I heard was that my cute little Iruka-kun threw a certain pervert out the door. Nice little red mark you have there..." She poked the middle of his forehead with one painted finger, smirking, which only grew when he swatted her hand away.

"Why did you ask then?" Iruka scowled and stood to leave.

"It's TRUE!" He didn't need to see the triumphant gleam to know it was there. "So was it before or after you had your way with him?"

The chunin pinched his nose and shook his head. "I didn't do anything of the sort," he finally growled.

"Then come have a drink with me, and who knows maybe we can get you laid."

Iruka scowled again and headed for the door. "No thanks, Anko-chan I'll pass. The last time I went drinking with you, I ended up in a skirt."

She laughed at the memory then traipsed after him, catching his arm nonchalantly. "Aw don't be that way! I mean it's not my fault that you get /experimental/ when you're drunk."

He didn't bother to pull away, knowing it was pointless and already having half given up on getting out of it. "It was your skirt," Iruka reminded her with a smirk slowly pulling at the corners of his mouth.

---

Three hours later Iruka found himself smiling and leaning against the bar as he watched his purple-haired friend dance topless on a table while a complete stranger whispered exceedingly dirty things in his ear. And, although he made no move to push the dark-haired man away, he found himself imagining the voice in his ear belong to a certain silver-haired pervert. His mind supplied the teasing lilt and the words were distorted by the sheer level of noise until they became a promise to help him relax.

Slowly, the memory surfaced and he recalled the next words the man had uttered. Kakashi's biting remark served to sour his mood and Iruka ordered another drink considering whether he should take the stranger up on the offer to find someplace more private. 'Maybe,' he thought, 'after a few more drinks.'


	54. Puzzle

Title: Puzzle

Genre: Humor

Pairing: KakaIru

Summary: Kakashi rescues Iruka from his own stupidity

Disclaimer: Kishimoto-sama still owns naruto now if only his publishers would let him draw NC-17 he could feed us fangirls... we know he would.

He yanked at his arm, trying to free himself from the iron grip Kakashi had. "Leave me alone! What I do is none of your business!" he protested as Kakashi pulled him away from the bar, but the jounin simply shook his head and continued to drag him along.

"Go, Kakashi!" Genma cheered as they passed the blond's table. Iruka tried to turn and glare at him but his jailer yanked on his arm, pulling him through the door and out of sight of tokubetsu and his boyfriend.

He began struggling in earnest, angry at the silver-haired nin who seemed to think he was his keeper. "Let me go you prick!" Iruka yelled profanities as he kicked at the jounin's leg and nearly fell over when he was suddenly flung against a wall.

"Hit me," Kakashi's voice was surprisingly calm despite the anger that was clearly written on the visible part of his face.

"What?" Iruka blinked, dumbfounded by the statement. His head was spinning from the booze and he couldn't figure out why Kakashi even cared who he screwed.

"Hit. Me." The anger edging it's way into the jounin's voice.

"I'm not going to hit you!" Although Iruka admitted to himself, that it was quickly becoming an option.

"It'd be better than what you were looking to do." The man scowled and looked away.

"You're the one who said..." the chunin said rubbing the scar on his nose, wishing his sudden headache would go away.

"I didn't tell you to go pick somebody up in a bar!" The silver-haired man pointed angrily in the direction they'd come. "Fuck, Iruka did you even know that guy before tonight?"

Iruka didn't notice the way Kakashi drop the usual title; he'd never heard the other man yell before and it took him by surprise. "What? You expected me to take you up on your 'offer'?" He couldn't see how the man could be serious with the way he'd insulted him right after making the suggestion.

"Forget it," Kakashi growled, storming away.

Iruka stared at the retreating man's back. The brunette frowned and leaned against the wall. The man had a strange sense of logic and Iruka decided he was likely never going to puzzle it out.


	55. Through The Fire

Title: Through The Fire

Pairing: KakaIru

Summary: Sequel to Relaxation, Drink, Puzzle

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, if I did... hell if I was Kishi's editor there would not be the issue with the manga that there is... *grrs*

Iruka leaned over to look Kakashi in the face, a smile on his expressive face. "Hi," he said.

"Hn." The jounin's gaze didn't move from the book in front of him but Iruka noticed he was now 'staring' at the book as opposed to actually 'reading' it. The single fixed on one point, unmoving.

A part of him wasn't sure if he should point out the fact that he knew he wasn't being ignored and his brattier side simply couldn't resist. "Enjoying your book?" he asked seemingly innocently.

"Hn," Kakashi responded again, seemingly fixated on pretending, that he didn't care that Iruka was pointedly invading his three feet of personal space.

"It's nice out here isn't it?" His brattier side was definitely winning out but the chunin decided the other man deserved it.

"Hn."

The same non-answer seemed about all he would get so Iruka chuckled and settled beside the man leaning back against the tree trunk. "Konohamaru stuck gum in Hanabi's hair today." There was a snicker from beside him and Iruka smiled softly, knowing he'd already won.

"After I took him to the nurse, I had to calm his fuming victim down before she hunted him down and killed him when I wasn't looking."

There was another snicker, this one verged on a chuckled. "And, while I was explaining to her that sometimes when little boys like somebody they torment them, it occured to me that not all little boys grow out of this."

Kakashi's chuckling was abruptly cut short, "Oh... uhm..."

Iruka twisted around to sit on his knees as the man shifted uncomfortably beside him. "You know you could have just asked me out." The chunin smirked, leaning forward until his nose nearly touched the other man's.

"I..."

Iruka chuckled, enjoying the way Kakashi stared at him obviously unable to say anything else.

Iruka reached out and slid the dark blue fabric of the mask down, revealing a bright blush coloring the pale cheeks. It surprised him that Kakashi didn't protest, but it served his purposes so instead of teasing the man about it he simply closed the distance between their lips.

They were surprisingly soft and Iruka parted his lips slightly to lap at their smooth surface. He questioned briefly whether he'd be allowed to deepen the kiss or if the man would push him away. But before he could test the idea, Kakashi took the invitation for what it was, wrapping a hand around the back of Iruka's head as though afraid the chunin would pull away. Their tongues slid along one another, both men absorbed in the feel and taste of the other until neither could breathe.

Iruka gasped and leaned his forehead against Kakashi's paler one, the man's fingers still twined through dark brown hair that was coming free of it's tight ponytail.

"Go out with me?" Kakashi asked, his voice shaking slightly.

"Yes." Iruka laughed softly but didn't pull away. "See... that wasn't so hard."


	56. All That I Have

92. All That I Have  
Title: All That I have  
Characters: Sakumo, Kakashi  
Summary: Kids shouldn't have to let go...  
Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Naruto and I wish I got paid for this because then I'd quit my job and do nothing else. ^.^

written for 100 themes and dedicated to Fuyu_no_akegata cuz she makes  
such a good Kakashi and I love RPing with her besides she put the idea in my head.

"NO!" the little boy yelled, defiantly clutching the dark blue cloth to his chest.

Sakumo sighed and rubbed his temples, releasing the edge of the blanket knowing there was no way his son would forgive him if it got ripped. "Listen, Kakashi-kun, you can't take that to the accademy with you..."

The gray eyes darkened and his young son scowled for a moment, looking between the blanket and the window, before fixing his father with a determined look. "Then, I'm not going."

A part of him wanted to laugh at the stubborn expression but he bit his tongue and settled for shaking his head. There had to be a way to get the boy to relinquish his treasure. Not that he didn't understand why Kakashi was so attached to it, but he just... his son couldn't carry around a baby blanket anymore. "I understand what it means to you, but you want to be a ninja too, right? Like her?"

Kakashi slumped, looking defeated but still clinging to the blanket. "But... I don't want to leave her."

"It's all that you have of her..." Sakumo smiled reassuringly, knowingly. 'You're all that I have of her.' He pulled Kakashi close, the blanket trapped between him, and even though he didn't voice the words, his son seemed to understand. "But, it's not going anywhere, it will be here when you get back."

Hesitantly, he released Kakashi, who, just as reluctantly, held the blanket out to him. "You'll take care of her right?"

"Of course," he chuckled softly, ruffling the kid's messy gray hair.

---

Sakumo held his breath as Kakashi picked up the light blue fabric and studied it. He hadn't been sure if his four year old son would be upset with what he'd done, or not. There had been a surprising amount of fabric and he'd been able to make a dozen different masks of varying sizes.

"What is it?" Kakashi asked, looking up at him, confusion clearly displayed in the small features of face.

Sighing from relief, Sakumo picked up the smallest one. "Come here." When his son stepped forward, he tied the mask over Kakashi's face. "There, now she'll always be with you and nobody will know but us."

Two very small hands reached up to touch a cloth covered face and dark gray eyes closed contently. When Kakashi looked up at him again, understanding shone in the boy's eyes for a moment before his son launched himself at him wrapping tiny arms around his neck.

He wondered if it was wise to let him hold so tightly to the past. But, when he couldn't bring himself to let go, it seemed only too cruel to force his child to. Especially when he was being pushed to grow up when most children were still clinging to their mother's skirts. Hugging his son tighter, he hoped the small token would bring his son strength in the years ahead.


	57. Family

Title: Shichigosan Festival - Family

Pairing: None, oriented around Kakashi and his father Sakumo

Summary: Growing up is about letting go of our own selfish desires for those precious to us.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and given my own threats of doom and damnation over the current story issues

Note* Akiko means Autumn child or Bright child and I felt it suited Kakashi and his Dad seeing as I see her as being their warmth and light.

---

Sakumo frowned, biting the thread to cut it loose from the spool. This was his last hope and he wasn't quite sure that it would work. The last time they had gone to the Festival Akiko had still been alive and Kakashi-kun hadn't yet even entered the academy. Now, much to his heart's consternation they were both gone, her to the grave and their son on missions. It pained him more than he was willing to let others know.

He had hoped they could go to the festival if just so that he could hold onto those memories that were so dear to him that the ache they caused had not faded in the nearly two years without her. However, when he had taken his son to the store to choose a kimono the young boy had scowled and sulked and refused all offers of help in choosing something. In the end they had left the store empty handed and he, at least, disheartened.

So, in what he felt would be a futile attempt, Sakumo had declined to take any missions for the last few weeks. And instead, had spent those hours sitting here beside her, the cool black stone at his back, sewing. Perhaps she would guide his clumsy hands in the task and it would truly be from her. Thus far, he'd ruined several bolts of fabric in his well meaning attempts. The masks, that he had made for his son a few years back, had stretched his abilities. And this new task, he had no doubts, was beyond them. Still, he refused to give into the despair and admit failure.

---

Kakashi didn't miss the details. The precise stitching was clearly his fathers, his mother's had flowed with a grace that was unmistakable even from a distance, like her. He decided that it had something to do with their spirits. She was warmth, and it flowed through her like sunlight. Her grace was not merely the practiced grace of a shinobi but that of a dancer. And, his father was like the cold steel of the sword, his movements precise in the way only a truly determined heart could be.

Biting his lip to supress the initial desire to tell his father he was not some child easily fooled, Kakashi looked from the kimono to the man.

"I tell you, it was here when I woke up this morning," Sakumo offered lightly. The fear in his eyes was evident only to his son.

The realization struck him then that he was being a child. In his seeing only his own desire to hold onto his mother in his own fashion by simply refusing to replace her, he had overlooked things. Turning away again, he kept his thoughts to himself and reached out to touch the soft material laid out before him. There were things he was aware he didn't know. But if his father, who was far from a skilled tailor, had put so much time into this... it was important to him.

Perhaps there was a little grace to the stitching, a little warmth in the soft hues... Kakashi smiled. It was probably his imagination, but right then it was as though a part of her was there. So, pushing aside his own selfishness, he threw his arms around his father. He politely ignored the silent tears dampening his hair.


	58. Be Mine

Title: Be Mine (Pen & Paper for 100 themes) DOUJIN: http:// .com/art/DOWNLOAD-DJ-112828472 (remove the spaces)  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Love doesn't come in little red paper hearts one day a year... it comes in blue ones cut out with Kunai!  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or this would soooo be canon ^.^  
Written for 100 themes and dedicated to our Russian friends, thank you for your support! Happy Valentine's Day EVERYONE!

---

Iruka tucked the handmade cards into his bag, along with quite a bit of candy. Looking around the room, he sighed and then resolutely moved to gather up the decorations and trash left over from the small classroom party. It took the better part of an hour to get everything back in order, and he was glad that the holiday at least meant that he didn't have homework or tests to grade. Picking up his overstuffed bag, Iruka headed for the door, relieved to finally be heading home.

"You dropped something, Iruka-sensei..."

The voice caught him by surprise, and Iruka turned around to find Kakashi standing there with his hand outstretched and an envelope between his fingers. "I don't remember seeing this earlier," Iruka said, unable to resist teasing the other just a little.

"I'm sure I saw you drop it," Kakashi said, the amusement clear on the visible part of his face. "Of course, if you don't want it..." His voice trailed off, the unspoken threat amplified by the man pulling the envelope back to tap it against his hand.

Iruka snatched it then very carefully slit the edge open with a kunai and slid the card out. It was obviously handmade, the edges of the blue craft paper heart rough from being cut with something other than scissors. The dolphin, however, was actually rather nicely drawn. "Aren't valentines supposed to be red?"

"I don't like red. I like blue," the jounin said, the admission clear in the rather sulky tone.

The brunet laughed and stepped a little closer to his boyfriend, who immediately slid an arm around the chunin's waist. "So, does this mean I can't give you your gift until White Day?"

Kakashi pulled his mask down and planted a very light kiss on the grinning teacher. "How about you give it to me now, and we pretend you waited?" He suggested, then planted another kiss on his lover's lips. "Or, I can just give you _your_ gift over and over and over..." He whispered the words while stealing little kisses and nips between the words. "...and then, on White Day, you can return the favor."

Iruka smiled and leaned into the kisses, sliding his hands from the front of Kakashi's flak jacket to around his neck. "I like that idea."

"Which?" Kakashi asked, chuckling softly.

"Both..."


	59. Solitude

Title: Solitude  
Pairing: KakaIru?  
Summary: We all love so the quote that it's better to have loved and lost.. the question is if you should have told them.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto if I did KakaIru would be canon and we all know it. (Even though I love variety I see them as soulmates ^.^ )

---

"Go away Iruka." Kakashi didn't turn to look at him when he spoke. The sharingan user sat with his back to him and his head on his hand, staring out the window. The recognizable orange book sat on the table beside him unopened next to a congealing plate of food.

"How are you?" the chunin asked, swallowing the nervous feeling welling up inside his throat.

"Don't pretend you care." The tone was icy and Iruka could see the muscles in the cloth covered jaw clenching. "I never should have said anything, I just... never-mind, just go."

He winced at the harshness in the words and wondered what he would see if Kakashi looked at him. "I would still like to be friends, but I understand if that's not possible right now."

"It's not." A pale hand brushed through the spiky silver hair and Iruka watched the motion hypnotized. "Not ever again."

"If you change your mind... uhm..." His voice shook and he let the words trailed off, afraid if he finished the sentence he'd lose his composure.

"_That_ is as unlikely as you changing yours." There was no anger in the words, only resolve and that hurt more.

The silence that followed seemed to be swallowing them both up and Iruka shifted unsure of what to say. He was losing his best friend and he knew it, but he had no idea what to do about it. It hurt worse thanMizuki's betrayal but this time he had no one to blame except himself. "I wish it was that simple..."

"Just go, leave me to my solitude. I was better off in it." The words were barely louder than a whisper yet strangely deafening at the same time and his footsteps echoed loudly as he turned and walked away.


	60. Obsession

Title: Obsession  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: SEQUEL TO: Solitude, PREQUEL TO: Drive. We all love so the quote that it's better to have loved and lost.. the question is if you should have told them.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto if I did KakaIru would be canon and we all know it. (Even though I love variety I see them as soulmates ^.^ )

---

It was in the way the man looked at him, it was like being burned up from the inside out. He wasn't even sure how the other managed it when most of his face was covered, but the intensity was not lost. If anything, it served to amplify the feeling that the copy-nin's full attention was on him and him alone.

Iruka set the mission report aside and smiled at the shinobi who'd just handed it to him. "Thank you for your hard work," he said, his voice lacking the usual enthusiasm.

"Are you okay Iruka-san?" Aoba asked, looking genuinely concerned.

"I..." he started then sighed and nodded, not completely sure what he wanted to say and afraid his thoughts might actually slip out. _'My best friend hates me because he said he loved me and I..._ Iruka's heart twisted at the memory and he forced himself to smile so it wouldn't show on his face. "I'm fine, thank you for the concern Aoba-san." The words were forced out and sounded flat even to his own ears.

"If you say so Iruka-san..." The expression on Aoba's face was both sympathetic and unbelieving, but the man nodded once and then left without further questioning the chunin.

Watching the room clear out, Iruka wondered when Kakashi would turn in his mission report, but as the minutes ticked by the man didn't and Izumo ducked out to get some coffee and drop the reports off in the filing room, leaving the room empty save for them and still Kakashi didn't do more than turn the page in his novel.

"Can I help you Kakashi... san." The honorific sounded awkward now that he'd gotten used to not saying it when they were by themselves, and it seemed to echo in the deadening silence of the mission room.

Kakashi looked up at the words, and Iruka had a very brief moment where he thought for sure the man would say something, that things would go back to the way they had been and they could move past the uncomfortable silence.

"Hn..."

And then the moment was over and Kakashi glared at him then looked back at his book, and Iruka swallowed down the sudden wave of sadness that filled him. The emotion was quickly replaced with anger and he slammed his hands down on the table, standing in the same moment, and glaring back at the jounin. "Why'd you bother coming down here if you weren't going to turn it in?" Iruka yelled the question, not really expecting an answer.

"Because I wanted to see you," Kakashi said not looking up, the words spoken so softly Iruka wasn't even sure he heard them right. The jounin's hand rose while Iruka stood gaping in surprise and then he was gone in a puff of smoke, the report fluttering to the ground with the leaves.

Iruka stood there staring and unable to move for several moments until Kotetsu and Izumo came back, their appearance knocking him out of his shock, he moved to pick up the report and file it.

_'Thank you for you hard work... Kakashi.'_


	61. Drive

Title: Drive  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: SEQUEL TO: Solitude and Obsession. We all love so the quote that it's better to have loved and lost.. the question is if you should have told them.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto if I did KakaIru would be canon and we all know it. (Even though I love variety I see them as soulmates ^.^ )

----

He'd been waiting at the gate every evening since he'd learned Kakashi had been sent out again. Genma had made an offhand remark it when he'd been dropping off a report a couple days after Iruka had spoken to Kakashi in the mission room.

It hadn't surprised him but when he'd realized Kakashi had left that same night, hadn't gotten the mission from him, he realized the significance of the man's presence there that night. The realization that even after everything _he_ was the last thing Kakashi had wanted was to see before his mission, struck him hard. The fear that his irritation would be the last thing the man remembered had him standing at the gate silently trying to make the jounin appear.

Then when he finally stumbled in, looking exhausted Iruka couldn't move. Kakashi tensed the moment he noticed him and it surprised him when the silver-haired man walked over and stood in front of him, seemingly expecting some kind of explanation.

Iruka stared at the ground, not able to bring himself to actually face Kakashi, ashamed of his own cowardice. "I didn't want to lose you..." His voice shook, the relief that the other was okay finally hitting him.

"You can't have this both ways, Iruka. You said you don't want more..." Kakashi paused, sighed, and then reached out and lifted Iruka's chin, forcing the chunin to look at him. "...well I don't want less."

The expression on Kakashi's face made it impossible for Iruka to look away. It wasn't because the man had lowered his mask, he'd done the same thing when he'd told Iruka how he felt, it'd been a shock then, now he'd expected it. But the sadness etched in the man's visible eye made the hopeful smile appear nearly broken, and Iruka swallowed unable to look away. "It might not work and then we wouldn't have anything." The words fell from his mouth without being called.

Kakashi breathed a visible sigh of relief. "Heh... seems neither one of us is very good at driving the other away so I think you're wrong there."

"Let's hope so..." Iruka said, offering the man a weak smile.

"No..." Kakashi whispered, stepping closer and pulling the chunin into his arms. "Let's hope we never have to find out."


	62. Starvation

Title: Starvation  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: No first date goes off without a hitch even if it's just a minor one.  
Disclaimer: I refuse to even pretend I'm Kishimoto... I value my life too much and he's killing off characters too much for his to be safe from the rabid fans.

---

Iruka shifted uncomfortably; even with the jacket of the suit unbuttoned he looked and felt iextremely/i overdressed. He'd known it was a dumb idea to wear it, but it was one of the few things he owned that wasn't t-shirts and jeans or a uniform. "I..." He looked from Kakashi to the people walking past and back then blushed.

When the man had asked him to have dinner with him, he'd assumed that it meant a date. But, Kakashi was wearing his uniform and looking as uncomfortable as he felt. "I think I misunderstood," Iruka said, smiling apologetically at the jounin.

The visible gray eye widened. "No!" Kakashi said suddenly, then seeming to realize that he'd spoken, he blushed so much so that the visible part of his cheek glowed red. "Stay. Please?" He tilted his head to the side as he asked the question, giving the pleading furrow of his brow more of a tilt and adding to the effect.

"Okay..." Iruka still wasn't entirely sure what to say, and, instead, fussed with the tie he was wearing, wrinkling the red silk fabric. "Maybe I should at least go change..." he suggested finally.

Kakashi frowned, and Iruka could see it in the way the muscles of brow knitted together; the expression more thoughtful than anything. And, the shaking his head Kakashi slipped out of his vest. "Give me your jacket and tie," he said, laying his own across one arm and holding his hand out.

Shrugging out of it, Iruka handed the jacket over then slipped the tie free as well, a little uncertain why he was doing so. He didn't question it, though, because Kakashi had asked him to stay, and he really didn't want to go; and, whatever Kakashi was doing was connected to that. "Here," Iruka said unnecessarily.

Holding the items in one arm, Kakashi raised his hand to his mouth and bit his thumb. Then, minding that the clothing didn't touch the ground, he knelt and pressed his hand to the ground.

"Ah," Iruka said, finally understanding.

"Hey Boss," Pakkun said blandly as the smoke cleared, looking between the two of them. Bull simply blinked, looking bored or, at least, not overly interested in why Kakashi had summoned him.

Kakashi folded the suit coat up and laid it and the tie inside the vest then held them out to the dogs. "Take these home."

Bull opened his mouth then closed it around the green fabric, while Pakkun looked between them again then smiled. "I knew it," he said then looked down at the other dog. "You see that; they're on a date. Uhei owes me her dinner for a week." And then, they were gone in a puff of smoke.

Blushing, Iruka chuckled and looked at his 'date'. Kakashi shuffled his feet, one hand tucked in his pocket and the other scratching the back of his head. The man's obvious nervousness put him suddenly at ease. "So? Can we go eat now? I'm starving." He smiled and slid his hand to Kakashi's elbow and smiled.

Returning the smile, Kakashi laid his free hand over the one at his elbow and nodded. "I know the perfect place," he said, leading Iruka down the street.


	63. Deep In Thought

Title: Deep In Thought  
Pairing: None  
Summary: Hanabi could never measure up, no matter how perfectly she performed.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Kishi does. If I did, things would be quite different but that said I love the story, the characters, and the setting so fanfiction it is.

written for 100 themes, dedicated to OokamiKasumi.

Also this is definitely over 500 words... but oh well, it wouldn't have been complete in 500 so it just isn't.

* * *

Hanabi twisted at her waist, her hands flying through the signs even as her foot came up to kick the bean bag away. Her chakra was perfectly focused, her eyes trained for every obstacle, every danger. Shifting her weight again, she smacked another beanbag out of her area, and then three more in quick succession. Every movement was fluid, quick, and completely confident, even as she swept into a low stance, panted, and smiled under the curtain of her dark hair.

"Well done, Hanabi," her father said, moving around her in his usual calculating manner, looking for faults. There were none, but he frowned anyway. "You should be faster, your cousin Neji was faster. You could be more graceful, too. Precision is important, but grace is neccessary. Perhaps you should train with your sister, she could use training. You're dismissed."

The moment he was out the door, a servant came in to clean the training room. Hanabi scowled and kicked one of the beanbags, sendingit flying hard into a wall. It was one thing for her father to compare her to Neji; despite the insult of his being a branch family member, he was Neji, and even she could admit he was better than her. It gave her something to aim for; she would be a better shinobi than him, she would surpass him, because she was a member of the main house, and that was simply how it worked.

But, she ihad/i surpassed Hinata. She was an example to Hinata. And, it angered her to be treated as though, despite this, she couldn't measure up. It was even worse when her father complimented her in front of Hinata, with his scolding words as to how her sister wasn't as good. It made her blind with how angry she became over it. Because, she could see it then. The way he looked at Hinata. There was that disapproval, but there was something else, something she couldn't put to words, and it pissed her off.

She picked up another beanbag and threw it. The cloth weight slammed against the wall, leaving a discernable mark in the wood. Her muscles tensed even more, the anger pulling them tight. The scowl deepened, and she turned looking for another beanbag to throw, needing to release the frustration out on something. They were gone, all of them retrieved by the servant, who picked up the one she'd only just thrown and dropped it into the box before disappearing out the door.

Hanabi wanted to scream and couldn't, refused to. Instead, she shifted into her stance and flew through her family's kata. Her anger made the motions jarring, reminding her again of her father's words. _Grace._ She growled and flew through the kata again and again, faster and faster each time. Her movements were perfect, always perfectly precise. It was something she held even over Neji, that perfect timing, perfect calculation of movement, everything _perfect._ It made her slower, and she knew it; but she refused to think it made her less graceful. Grace was precision... wasn't it?

Faltering, Hanabi collapsed on the floor, silent tears streaming down her face from the exertion. She wiped the tears away and tried unsuccessfully to push herself to her feet again. _'Why?'_ she wondered, _'Why am I not good enough? I'm better than her!_ The tears fell harder, turning to sobs.

"Hanabi-chan?" The voice was familiar and followed by soft, _graceful_ footsteps.

She refused to look up, even as Hinata knelt beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder before pulling Hanabi into her arms.

"Shhh... Hanabi-chan, it's alright," Hinata whispered, brushing the hair from her sister's face. "Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"She asked, quiet concern laced in the words.

Hanabi sniffled and buried her head against Hinata's shoulder, angry with herself for being so negative of her sister, angry at how she'd let herself fall apart, but mostly angry because it was Hinata who was comforting her. She didn't deserve the kindness, and she knew it, but she couldn't make herself pull away.

"It's okay, you don't have to," her sister whispered, pressing a soft kiss against her head. "I wish mama was still here, she always knew the right thing to say to make me feel better. She always knew what was wrong, too."

Hinata's words made Hanabi wish the same thing. She wished it because, from the way her sister spoke of their mother, Hanabi just knew her mother would have been able to help her find a way to live up to father's expectations, how to stop resenting her sister and cousin. Her mother could make everything better, she knew because Hinata said so.

"She'd tell you it was okay and not to worry," Hinata said, her voice soft with memories. "And then, she'd tell you she loves you and she always will. She did love you, you know. You were her perfect little Hanabi-chan, still are." Her sister pulled her closer, running her hand over the young girl's back. "Even father can see that."

The words burned her pride, and Hanabi made a small noise of protest, irritated because she knew it wasn't true. It made her want her mother more, made her long for the promised unconditional love. "What was mama like, Onee-chan?"She asked, tilting her head up to look into the soft violet eyes.

Hinata smiled and brushed the girl's hair back. "She was beautiful and kind with a grace that wasn't practiced..."

Hanabi's eyes widened slightly as the realization sunk in. _'He sees her, when he looks at you.'_ She forced herself to smile so as not to give away her thoughts. It made sense now. The way he criticized Hinata for everything and yet still seemed to see her above everyone else.

She'd always known Hinata looked like their mother, but she'd never understood the significance, had never realized it was more than appearance. It was strangely soothing to know. She no longer felt as though she was being compared to her sister, as though she had to live up her, because she knew now... her father was comparing her not to Hinata but to her mother. It was even more impossible an image to live up to, but she felt less alone now.

Shifting away, Hanabi stood and bowed. "Thank, Onee-chan. I feel better now," she said, offering her sister a smile that was honest, a rarity for the serious child.

Hinata returned the smile with an even brighter one. "I'm glad I could be of some use," she said, rising. "Don't worry so much, whatever it is, just keep trying, you'll get it." Reaching out, Hinata laid a hand on Hanabi's shoulder. "I should go, my teams waiting. If you need anything, just let me know, alright, Hanabi-chan?" She said, smiling and heading out the door, the moment Hanabi nodded.

"I won't get it, you said it yourself, it's not something I can learn," she whispered to the empty room. It was okay, though, because knowing it wasn't something she could learn made it easier. It was like a bloodline limit; if you didn't have it, you could never learn it, no matter how hard you tried.

The fact made it easy to accept that it would never be. She would simply have to find a way to compensate, and while she wasn't graceful, she _was_ precise, and in time, she'd be fast. She'd turn the trait into something more than a skill, something her father would see and respect. It was better that way, she thought, because she wasn't cursed like Hinata with being too much her mother's child and never her own person.


	64. Fairytale

61. Fairy Tale  
Title: Fairy Tale  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: So why does Kakashi carry Icha Icha everywhere  
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto we all know this

--- Dedicated to Lenap because I haven't written KakaIru in forever and she's the one who pokes me about it ---

"Why do carry that around everywhere?"

Kakashi paused at the question, his book unopened in his hand. "Why do you want to know, Iruka-sensei?" It wasn't really something he cared to discuss. He knew most assumed he was a pervert and he was, but that wasn't really why.

The brunet smiled then shook his head, keeping pace with Kakashi and stopping as he did. "I'm just curious."

"Oh?" Kakashi asked, deciding that the response merited his interest even more than the question. "Can't you guess, Sensei? I'm sure you can guess at the content." He leered at Iruka, teasingly.

Iruka rolled his eyes, obviously not buying the explanation. "Well unless you read at a level lower than any of my students I doubt you'd be reading the same book for... 3 weeks now..." he laughed, then coughed. "...and still find it arousing."

"You're very observant," Kakashi laughed. "So why do you think I read it, Iruka-sensei?" He started walking again, letting Iruka follow him if he chose.

Falling into step with the jounin, Iruka sighed loudly. "If I knew, then why would I be asking?"

Turning a corner, Kakashi chuckled at the snarky tone. "You're a clever man, Iruka-sensei, you must have at least eliminated a few reasons... care to at least tell me what they were and the reason you don't believe them?"

"Ugh, do you have to be so difficult? Can't you just answer the question?" Iruka replied, clearly annoyed. "Fine. I doubt you read them because you're perverted, because like I said you've been reading that thing for three weeks. I also don't think you put a cover on it and read other books because I've seen you all but drool over the movie poster and the way you rush into buy the latest copy... well it seems a bit much for an act."

They stepped onto the bridge and Kakashi grinned, his eye turning up with amusement. "Any other reasons, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka rolled his eyes at him again. "I also don't think you read them to annoy your team, well... not entirely. I wouldn't put it past you to do that, I just don't think it's the only reason you read it since there would be no point in reading it damn near constantly the way you do just to annoy them." The scar on the tanned nose twisted slightly with the annoyed smile, Iruka gave him. "Now will you just tell me?"

"Curiosity killed the cat, Sensei," Kakashi said grinning as they came to a stop in front of the memorial stone.

"Good thing I'm not a cat then," Iruka said crossing his arms.

Shaking his head, Kakashi turned to look at the stone, kneeling to drag a finger over each of the three names. "Sensei, Rin, Obito... how are you today?" he asked, despite the company. "It seems your suggestion is working, Sensei... or maybe not. Either way Jiji's book, no not the one you keep telling me to read, is responsible. I think I might be starting to understand the point of these 'fairy tales'."

He turned to grin up at Iruka. "He wants me to explain my fascination with them..." Kakashi hesitated a moment, weighing the possible outcomes before deciding if the man had been paying such close attention to him to notice anything it was worth a shot. "I think I might, if he'll have dinner with me..."

Iruka jaw dropped slightly and then he blushed, obviously not having expected the invitation. "I... uhm... okay," he said finally.

Kakashi smiled as he stood up, then handed the book over to Iruka. "Read it, tonight then. I'll pick you up tomorrow around this time." He turned and headed back for the bridge, knowing if Iruka did actually read at least he wouldn't think he was lying when he said he read it for the romance in it and hopefully he'd like it enough he wouldn't laugh.


	65. Are You Challenging Me?

Are You Challenging me contains adult content and will not be posted here, you can find it at http:// . ?no=600096974&chapter=64 just remove the spaces. feel free to leave a comment here though since I can reply easier here than I can there.

h t t p : / / n a r u t o. a d u l t f a n f i c t i o n . n e t / a u t h o r s . p h p ? n o = 1 2 9 6 8 2 8 9 7 0

had to space it out a LOT sorry


	66. Illusion

Title: Illusion  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Sometimes you'd almost rather be disillusioned...  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Dedicated to Lenap as a thank you. Written for 100 themes.

* * *

Iruka moved casually through the training grounds, picking up the various items that he'd dropped during his workout. "Twenty three... twenty four..." He muttered, tucking the shuriken back into his pouch. "I'm sure another one landed right about here..." He scrunched up his face, confused; the scar on his nose and cheeks distorted by the expression. "I... and then... it should be here..."

"Close your eyes..." Kakashi said, coming up behind the dark-haired chunin.

Iruka moved to turn around, but the ex-ANBU moved with him, keeping himself just out of the other's line of sight. "Will you give me back the shuriken you stole, if I do?" Iruka asked, the tone clearly stating that he knew Kakashi had taken it.

Kakashi laughed and continued to dodge the other's attempts to turn around. "You really shouldn't bother trying to see what I look like, I was trained by Yondaime after all." Neither of them was really exerting themselves any more than an average person. "Now, like I said, just be good and close your eyes," he repeated, smirking as he moved again.

"Will you..." Iruka started to ask again.

The silver-haired jounin laughed, cutting his words short. "You might get what you want; you'll just have to do as I ask if you want to find out." He moved around easily, and the two of them almost appeared to be doing an odd sort of dance.

Iruka stopped trying to turn around and crossed his arms. "Or, I could just requisition more," he retaliated.

"Yes, but then you'll always wonder what would have happened if you'd just closed your eyes," came Kakashi's counter, the words sliding off his lips in a tone that verged on a laugh. "And, everyone knows about your insatiable curiosity."

"Do they?" Iruka snorted.

The laugh that had been threatening to fall with Kakashi's earlier words tumbled out, and the joinin couldn't help but smile as he replied, "Mmhm... they do."

"Fine..." Iruka muttered, rolling his eyes, but then, with a rather deep sigh, he did close his eyes. "Now, why am I closing them?" He asked, the tone clearly exasperated.

Kakashi stepped in front of him and slid one hand around the back of Iruka's head and the other to his waist. At the sudden contact, Iruka started to open his eyes. "Don't, you'll ruin the illusion."

Iruka chuckled softly and shook his head very slightly. "Afraid I'll be disillusioned if I see your face?"

"That _is_ what I said..." Kakashi whispered, leaning forward, pressing his lips against Iruka softly. Parting them, he lapped softly at the younger man's lips, who parted them with a slight intake of breath that quickly turned into a barely audible moan.

And then, the kiss was over and Kakashi pulled away, his breath catching inexplicably in his throat despite the fact that it was just a kiss.

"Why do we play this game, Kakashi?" Iruka asked, sounding bewildered and slightly hurt. "Let me see your face." The request was almost a plea.

"Next time," Kakashi said, sliding his mask up and laying his head against Iruka's shoulder as his arms went around the younger man.

Iruka returned the embrace, reassuring his lover he wasn't going anywhere. "You always say that..."

_'I know,'_ he thought, unable to actually say it. "Next time." It was a promise, but at the same time, it wasn't.

"Okay."


	67. Light

Title: Light  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Continuation of illusion  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Dedicated to Lenap, written for 100 themes

* * *

Iruka hated this time of day, and he glared at the open window as though he blamed it for what he knew was coming. He swallowed and closed his eyes, attempting to push himself back off to sleep in a vain attempt to make the moment not come, to make time stop. It didn't work. The sun slowly peaked in through the window, causing his eyelids to glow red, so he turned over. It was a mistake, and he regretted it immediately, eyes opening instinctively. A deep gray eye stared back at him, silver hair blocking the other from his view.

"You're awake." He stated the fact, feeling foolish for being caught in the game he played with sunlight. There was a movement under the mask that Iruka knew immediately was a frown.

"So are you," Kakashi said simply in answer.

Iruka nodded, averting his eyes as he did. He always woke up before the sun rose. It was like he could sense it coming to the point that, even when the other wasn't in his bed, he woke; and he was starting to forget ever having slept in.

"Close your eyes." The words were barely above a whisper.

Looking back up, Iruka shook his head. "You don't need to kiss me goodbye."

"Close your eyes," Kakashi repeated a little more firm the second time.

A soft sigh escaped the chunin's lips. Iruka both loved and hated those words, and they twisted inside his chest painfully. He hated mornings, hated goodbyes, and he hated that, despite the outcome that always came, he longed for night. "Don't... just... go ahead and leave."

Pale fingers slid up to his face, the touch soft. "Close your eyes, Iruka," Kakashi said, then dragged his fingers over Iruka's eyes.

Iruka closed his eyes at the touch and, despite desperately wanting to, didn't open them again even when the hand pulled away, a tear sliding over the bridge of his nose to join the other before they both slid over his face. "I hate mornings," he choked out.

"Go back to sleep, Iruka, it's not morning," Kakashi said, pulling the blanket up around them as he wrapped his arms around Iruka. "Never will be."

More tears joined the first two, and Iruka buried his face into the crook of Kakashi's neck. He hadn't meant for Kakashi to see him cry, or for his lover to even realize he was awake, but he had; and Iruka was silently glad of it. "Good. I hate mornings."

"So do I."


	68. Breaking the Rules

Title: Breaking the Rules  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Sequel to Illusion and Light  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, we know this

Dedicated to Lenap as part of a thank you gift, written for 100 themes

* * *

Iruka smiled, burrowing his face into the warmth. He felt groggy, wakefulness was slowly seeping in however and he fought it, yawning and keeping his eyes shut tight against the light that would drag him up out of it.

"Wake up, sleepy-head."

And then he was awake, his chest clenching with the realization that he wasn't alone. It took a moment for his mind to catch up and then he remembered. He'd already been awake once today and Kakashi had said those heart wrenching words, but instead of kissing him goodbye he'd simply told him to go back to sleep. As soon as the memory fully surfaced, from his sleep clouded mind, Iruka relaxed a little. There was still a tightness between his shoulder blades and he took a deep breath trying to ease it, but didn't open his eyes.

"First you refuse to close your eyes when I tell you too and now you're refusing to open them... I think you just enjoy being contrary." Kakashi's voice held a lightness to it, but he didn't laugh.

"But..." Iruka paused, a little hesitant. He pulled back a little bit, tilting his face toward Kakashi's. "...I want a kiss," he said finally, catching himself before he could finish the sentence with 'good morning'. There was an uncertainty there but it was over-ridden by his need to be kissed and reassured it hadn't just been a dream.

Kakashi took a slow, deep breath that was clearly audible and which held "You can open your eyes."

Iruka didn't open them, a little confused about whether he was being denied the kiss. "That'd be breaking the rules though," he said hesitantly, terrified that if he opened them that sigh would mean no.

"They're already broken," Kakashi said, the tone indiscernable.

Keeping his eyes averted to the side, Iruka opened them, the anxiety twisting even tighter in his chest. He could see pale skin out of corner of his eyes and his heart leapt into his throat, but he still couldn't bring himself to actually look at Kakashi, afraid it was some kind of cruel joke. Kakashi swallowed and Iruka caught the motion as his jaw twitched with the action.

"You don't have to look away..." The words sounded shakey even to Iruka.

Iruka closed his eyes again, took a deep breath, then opened them and looked at the man who'd been sharing his bed for months now, for the first time.

"Kiss me."

He didn't know if he'd said it or if Kakashi had but he pressed his lips against the paler ones of his lover, his eyes open for the very slow, soft, and nearly chaste kiss. Then he broke it, whispered a thank you, then caught the other's mouth with his own again for another, deeper kiss and broke it only when he could hardly breath.

"Are you... 'disillusioned'?" Kakashi asked, panting.

Iruka almost wanted to laugh at the way Kakashi seemed almost terrified at the prospect of his answer, but he didn't. He didn't know why Kakashi thought that he would be, the man was more than good looking. "No," he said and smiled.

Kakashi visibly relaxed at his answer. "Good."

"No more rules?" Iruka asked, wondering if that's what Kakashi meant by letting him see his face, by staying.

"No more mornings, no more mask, for you," Kakashi said, tightening his hold on the chunin's waist.

Iruka nodded, smiling.


	69. Safety First

Title: Safety First  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Sequel too Illusion, Light, Breaking the Rules

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Dedicated to Lenap, written for 100 themes

* * *

Kakashi dragged his fingers though the dark hair, Iruka leaned into the touches. He was more comfortable like this, holding Iruka with the man's back to his chest. Despite that he didn't wear the mask with Iruka, it was still hard to let the other see him. "I'm sorry." The words were whispered because he couldn't seem to voice them any louder.

"For what?" Iruka asked, sounding a little groggy. He didn't turn to look at Kakashi though he snuggled a little and pulled the arm around his waist a little tighter around himself, threading his fingers with Kakashi's.

It was hard to explain. Mostly, he was sorry that he'd hurt Iruka. When they'd fallen into bed together that first time, he hadn't expected it to become what it was. Kakashi hadn't realized Iruka had been awake that first morning he'd kissed him goodbye before ducking out the window. He couldn't explain why he'd done that, why he hadn't stayed, why he'd felt the need to kiss the man before he'd left, but he couldn't deny that it had made things harder on them both. Maybe if he'd stayed they could have talked, figured things out, found their boundaries a little faster, had a 'normal' relationship. If he'd gone without the kiss, maybe they would have both moved on... he was glad he hadn't, even if it would have hurt Iruka less if he had.

"Kakashi?" Iruka shifted a little so that he was a bit more on his side, releasing Kakashi's hand and wrapping his arms around the man's waist.

"Hm?" Kakashi asked, then realized he hadn't answered Iruka's question. "For being a coward and hurting you."

Iruka laughed and shook his head. "I am as much to blame there as you. I shouldn't have pretended to be asleep or said something before it got to that point."

Kakashi couldn't argue with his lover's logic, as much as he wanted to. "Why didn't you?"

The chunin was quiet for a moment and when he spoke it soft and accompanied with a sigh. "I was afraid of pushing you away, afraid you'd go and not come back." Iruka leaned up and kissed Kakashi's cheek. "I was too much of a coward to ask for something more at the risk of the answer being no. We were both fools."

"Too busy trying to protect ourselves to realize it too," Kakashi agreed.

"We teach pre-genin that don't we? _'Safety first or you won't be around long enough for it to matter.' and 'A shinobi doesn't let their emotions show.' _ There's a few others too of course." Iruka sighed and shook his head slightly.

"What did you see when you closed your eyes?" Kakashi asked, slipping his hand up under Iruka's shirt just so he could touch the warm skin again. "What did you think about?"

"Hm?" Iruka rubbed his eyes, twisting so he could look at the man holding him. "Why didn't you want me to see your face?"

"Because..." Kakashi's throat tightened and his eyes welled with tears that he refused to acknowledge, refused to wipe away. "...I see a lot of things when I look in the mirror but I don't see what I want to see." He wanted to tell Iruka but he couldn't quite force the words out. "I've spent so much time hiding who I am that I'm not even sure who that is anymore..."

Iruka twisted around the rest of the way, gave Kakashi an almost sad look before leaning forward to brush his lips against Kakashi's. "I didn't really think about that. I mean I knew you had thin lips and a long straight nose and pale skin, I knew you had very small scar at the corner of your lips..." The chunin traced a finger along each as he described them, pausing at the scar and smiling. "And, I knew none of it was important because you could be the ugliest man on the planet and I'd still love you. I just wondered why you were hiding and..."Iruka averted his eyes for a moment and sighed. "...I thought... you knew how I felt and it was your way of saying you didn't feel the same."

It felt like the world dropped out under him and then he reached up and pulled Iruka back down, stealing a long, slow, deep kiss from the startled man. "You were right, we are both fools," he panted as he broke kiss, their lips still brushing as he spoke. "I love you too," Kakashi said, the stole another kiss before the other could say anything else. Since there was after all nothing else that needed to be said.


	70. drink ver 2

Title: Drink  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Sometimes being able to see the danger doesn't stop us... and sometimes it shouldn't.  
Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto I'm just borrowing the characters for my own amusement

* * *

Iruka glowered right back at the jounin, refusing to let the man intimidate him.

When Sandaime-sama had told him who was going to be Naruto's jounin-sensei, Iruka hadn't 'realized who he was dealing with simply because the man's career the entire time Iruka had worked in the mission office had been classified. He wasn't old enough to really remember the man's father or the talk about the genius sure to be Hokage someday. The only things he knew were from the histories he taught and even then it limited and vague due to the fact that there was simply too much history that needed to be covered to remember every detail of every hero with perfect clarity.

Then he'd had to deal with the countless excuses as to why team seven's report was lateand he'd learned to understand the depths of Kakashi's creativity. However, he hadn't realized then how quickly the man's mood could go from friendly to adversarial. When the chunin nominations had come around... that was when he'd learned how stubborn, arrogant, and down right vicious Kakashi could get. _Especially_, when he was right.

This time, however, Iruka had Tsunade to back him up and no matter what Kakashi wasn't going to get away with his bad behavior. Besides, the man was injured and bedridden, it wasn't as though he was going anywhere. Even if he did keep trying.

"Drink. It." Iruka growled, his teeth grinding together.

Kakashi's glare became more petulant than angry. "I don't want to."

"I don't care, Tsunade-sama says it'll speed your recovery and you're going to drink it or I'm going to pour it down your throat." He amazingly _wasn't_ yelling, however the tone verged on being a death threat in it's own right. "Stop being such a baby!"

The silver-haired jounin stuck his bottom lip out about as far as it would go, enough that it was actually visible under the mask. "No," Kakashi stated, crossing his arms defiantly.

"Why you..." Iruka grabbed the open bottle of medicine.

There was a flash of movement then more, arms and legs tangling roughly as the two men struggled. A flash of blue fabric shot away from the bed, hooking perfectly on the corner of the chair in a fashion that looked nearly planned.

"HA!" Iruka said finally, straddling Kakashi and looking extremely pleased with himself.

"I hate you." Kakashi tried to glare then made a face, scraping his tongue around his mouth in an attempt to get the taste off of it. "I never used to take anyone's stupid medicine..." he sulked.

"Oh..." Iruka said, mockingly. "Poor baby."

"You're mean..." The lip was jutted out again, pointedly.

Iruka had to admit Kakashi really was very cute when he pouted, especially with the mask off. Smirking, Iruka leaned forward. "Such a mean boyfriend... I make you take your medicine so you can get better... guess you don't want the rest of the 'Get Well Package'..."

"Get Well _Package_?" Kakashi asked, looking hopeful.

"Mm... well you know what they say... 'a little sugar helps the medicine go down'," Iruka purred. Kakashi might be bed ridden but there were plenty of things you could do in a bed.


	71. Heaven

Title: Heaven  
Characters: Anko, Iruka, Kakashi / Pairings: KakaIru, MizuIruk, possibly slight IruAnko if you want to look at it that way.  
Summary: Heaven is defined in different ways at different ages  
Warnings: none it's FLUFF for the most part  
Disclaimer: Kishimoto still obviously owns Naruto  
Dedication: To Vernajast... because I miss our AnkoIruka stuff.  
Written for 100 themes

* * *

Heaven

When you're four, 'heaven' is being told you can have all the dango you want. At least it was for Anko and Iruka who couldn't get enough of the stuff. The two little kids finally fell asleep and their mothers had to peel the dango sticks they were still clutching from their syrup covered fingers.

"I say we drop them in the river to get them clean, Takara-san," Mochi said, laughing softly as she scooped up Anko.

The dark-haired woman nodded. "That'd wake them up though and we just got them to sleep. Might be better if we just stripped down the guest bed and throw them together on it." Takara made a face as tiny, sticky fingers curled in her hair.

"You sure about that?" Mochi asked, laughing.

Iruka's mother hesitated for a long moment, an amused smile on her face, then nodded as she lead the way down the hall. "Happy Birthday, Iru-chan."

By age eight their 'heaven' had become that quiet moment that came after setting a successful trap and before they got caught. The sweet taste of victory that was made of laughter as they escaped.

"I can't believe we got Sandaime-sama!" Anko squealed, throwing her arms around Iruka as they came spinning around a tree to an awkward stop.

Iruka fell over backwards, laughing hard enough to be visibly shaking with it. "Bet that pink dye doesn't come out for weeks!"

The two little kids lay there a giggling puddle of exhaustion, limbs tangling as they snuggled against one another and fell asleep

By the age of twelve their heaven had become hell and there seemed to be no end of it, even if they hid that behind smiles and bravery.

"Come back Anko-chan..." Iruka whispered, setting the small snake back into the aquarium. "Teka-chan and Mo-chan miss you." He closed the lid, wiped his nose on his sleeve and sat at the window waiting for his childhood friend to come back and refusing to believe what the old lady who ran the orphanage had said about her being a traitor. His Anko would never leave him forever, she just wouldn't.

By the age of sixteen 'heaven' was the safety of each others arms when everything else had been taken from them. It was that calm they could find for brief moments when the nightmares stayed away and they were together. It was knowing they were loved no matter what.

Anko pushed a strand of brown hair back out of Iruka's eyes, smiling at the way his scar crinkled when he wiggled his nose at the slight tickling of the hair. "Thank you, Iru-kun, for being here when no one else wants me."

The only response from the boy was a slight tightening of his arms around her waist as he shifted beside her.

By the age of twenty 'heaven' was the sound of bones cracking as revenge was taken for every tear shed. For Anko it was swinging a bloody fist into the face of the man who'd made her Iruka cry. For Iruka it was being told everything was okay again even if it meant pretending his friend hadn't put his other friend in the hospital, because heaven was knowing somebody loved him that much.

"Thank you," Iruka choked out, rubbing the tears from his eyes even though he didn't care if she saw them.

"You're too forgiving, Iru-kun." Anko didn't know then if it was of her beating Mizuki up or if it had to do with the fact that even after being used for a drunken fuck, Iruka still wanted to be the man's friend.

"Maybe..." It was the last thing he said before he fell asleep wrapped in her arms.

By the age of twenty-four 'heaven' was nothing but a smile, a real one. All Anko wanted was for Iruka to be happy and he was with Kakashi so she was happy.

Anko grinned and clapped Kakashi on the back as the kitchen door swung shut behind Iruka. "Break his heart and there isn't a jutsu out there that will save you," she warned, smiling despite the words.

Kakashi raised and eyebrow then looked back at the door Iruka had disappeared through. "And walk away from heaven? I wouldn't dream of it..."


	72. Seeking Solace

Title: Seeking Solace  
Pairing/Characters: KakaIru, Kotetsu, Izumo  
Summary: Sometimes all we need is a little reassurance  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto... obviously  
Dedication: To Fuyu_no_akegata (you've come a long way babe), written for 100 themes

* * *

"Why do you do this to yourself?" Izumo asked, leaning on the mission desk across from Iruka, Kotetsu beside with a nearly identical expression of confusion.

The brunet the question was directed at rubbed his eyes, an obvious attempt to clear them before his shift started. "I don't know. I keep... trying to let go and I just can't. He was my best friend, sometimes I was so sure I loved him and now I think sometimes that I hate him and that hurts more than anything," Iruka said, the scar on his nose twitching as he scrunched up his eyes and tried to make the tears stop.

"So stop going to see him, stop dragging yourself to see him if it hurts so much," Kotetsu said. The spikey-haired chunin frowned as he said, already certain the 'advice' would be ignored.

Iruka stared at the mission reports, picking one up as he began sorting them into piles. "Am I really as weak as he says..." The comment made absently, not even really a response.

Kakashi sighed, slid a hand through his hair and tucked his book away. He'd intended to pick up a quick mission but when he'd landed outside the window and overheard the conversation his plas had changed. Ducking inside as soundlessly as he'd landed, the jounin laid a hand on Iruka's shoulder and smiled at the room's only other occupants, the two chunin that his lover had been speaking too. "Iruka's coming with me, you two can cover for him and we'll forget about the favor you owe me."

"Kakashi, I'm fine really... I just need a minute," Iruka said, though his voice still shook and the protest sounded weak at best. It didn't matter however since a moment later they were both gone in a puff of smoke.

* * *

The landing was precise, Iruka sitting on the couch in place of his chair and Kakashi behind him. Sliding around to the front of the couch, Kakashi sat, then immediately slid an arm around Iruka and pulled him close. He didn't say anything just held him, brushed Iruka's hair back from his eyes, and waited.

The was a quiet sniffle as Iruka rubbed his eyes, tucked safely in his lover's arms. It was followed by a slightly shakey sigh that was breathed out almost reluctantly as tears slid silently over tanned cheeks. "Sometimes I think I deserved it."

The words were whispered, half-heartedly, and Kakashi said nothing only held Iruka a little tigher. They'd done this before and sometimes what Izumo and Kotetsu said simply didn't help and sometimes it did but Kakashi knew what Iruka needed when it didn't.

"When I'm standing there in front of him and he says I was never there for him, that I just didn't understand... I believe it," Iruka started again, his voice choking a little more with tears as he spoke. "I read the letters he sends and I think... was I really such a horrible person? Am I really so weak?" He sniffed again, the tears breaking the words up and making them unintelligble to anyone other than possibly Kakashi. "He wasn't even aiming for me, but he's right... I failed him and I failed Naruto..." Iruka tilted his head up and looked at Kakashi, tears streaming down his cheeks. "...and I deserved it."

Kakashi reached up and brushed the tears away, kissing each of Iruka's cheeks as he did. "You didn't fail Naruto, you're not weak, and no matter what Mizuki or _you_ believe you didn't deserve it."

Iruka's chest shuddered and the tears streamed down his cheeks. He twisted his head free of Kakashi's hand and buried his face against the man's shoulder for a long moment. "Thank you," he whispered finally, not lifting his head, it had been what he needed to hear and they both knew it.


	73. Blood

Title: Blood  
Pairing/Characters: technically non(sorta KakaRin)/ Kakashi and Rin  
Summary: Some things need to be said because they need to be heard  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and man do I wish I could make money from it... that'd be nice  
Dedicated to scribblesinthemargins

* * *

Rin touched his cheek, smiling despite the fact that she was having trouble breathing. "I..." The single word took a lot out of her and she panted.

"Don't," Kakashi said, fixing her with that glare that said not to argue with him, that said to stop and left no room to argue.

It didn't matter to Rin, not now, she knew he loved her. He might not love her the way she wanted him to, but he did love her, and that mattered. "Please..." She could feel the tears stinging her eyes making it harder to see around the dark spots. "...need to say it," she choked out, coughing then staring for a moment at the spatters of red on his unmasked face. She wiped it away weakly, smearing it more than anything, and stopping as her fingers touched his lips. It amazed her how soft they were; she'd always imagined they were, always wondered if they were thin and pale like the rest of him, always wondered what he'd looked like if he smiled, if it would reach his eyes.

"I love you, Kakashi." The words were surprisingly unbroken, though the effort was not unnoticed as it set off another coughing fit. It was important to her that he know; he needed to hear it, that somebody loved him for him and all his faults and failings, and she was the only one left who truly knew them all.

Kakashi frowned. He hadn't wanted her to say it, hadn't wanted her to feel it, and it was written in the expression as clearly for her to see as though he'd spoken the thought aloud.

Rin closed her eyes, not wanting to see it anymore. Of everyone, she thought he deserved to be loved the most, he'd lost everything, and he needed it the most. That he didn't realize that made her want to cry, but she already was, so it made no difference. She felt like she was drowning in tears instead of blood right then. It hurt more than knowing she was dying.

When the warmth pressed against her lips it surprised her, but she couldn't open her eyes anymore; it like everything else was too much, but it didn't stop the tears from slipping free. She was almost glad for it, because she didn't think she could bear to see his pain as he gave her what she'd wanted, even as he was losing the last of everything.

'Poor Kakashi,' she thought. Rin begged silently, with her last breaths, that he find somebody he could truly hold onto, whose blood would not stain his heart the way everyone else's he'd loved had manged to do.


	74. Eyes

Title: Eyes (Prequel to Foreign)  
Pairing/Characters: Technically none/young Kakashi & young Iruka  
Summary: It's all about the puppy eyes  
Disclaimer: I do not nor will I ever own Naruto... I'm just not that lucky  
Dedicated to Beasiesgal

* * *

The boy chewed on his lip, tears threatening to spill over and down his cheeks. The soft brown hair framing his face and the pink skin of recent scar cutting across his cheeks only seemed to add to the dejected look. He looked utterly pathetic standing there looking up at Kakashi with that pleading expression. It made Kakashi feel liked he'd kicked a puppy, a big, brown-eyed, overly cute one at that. How could such a simple 'no' have led to him getting _this_ look. It wasn't fair, he had a weak spot for dogs and the little boy in front of him did the kicked puppy look better than Pakkun. "No," he grumbled again.

The boy swallowed, looked down for a moment then tilted his head up enough to look up at him. "Please? I promise not to tell anyone..."

"You're just going to keep bothering me if I say no right?" Kakashi said, sighing and getting an exasperated look on his face as the younger boy nodded. "Fine..." he sighed again, knowing it would bug him until the end of his days if he didn't make the puppy eyes stop.

The brown eyes lit up as the boy grinned and threw himself at Kakashi, wrapping his arms around the young shinobi and knocking the unsuspecting boy to ground. "Thank you!" he chirped then leaned over and kissed Kakashi on the nose.

"Gah, don't do that," Kakashi whined, blushing furiously. He didn't however push the other boy away. "What's your name anyway?"

"Iruka," the boy laughed, rubbing the back of his neck and laughing, clearly embarrassed by his own bad manners. "Sorry," he said getting up.

"First rule of being a ninja..." Kakashi said, standing and dusting himself off. "...don't attack your teammates."

"Okay," Iruka laughed, the over enthusiastic giggle of a small child that seemed to cause their entire body to be incapable of remaining still.

"Second rule... no more puppy eyes." It was an unfair advantage and none of his training had prepared him for how to deal with it.

Iruka laughed again, then grinned mischievously up at Kakashi. "What about on the enemy. If we get in trouble I can get us out."

It was obvious even to Kakashi, that given that grin, Iruka got into trouble a lot and likely out of it just as often. "Fine, but only on the enemy," he said, taking the younger boy's hand and pulling him towards the courtyard of the family estate.


	75. Foreign

Title: Foreign (sequel to Eyes)  
Pairing/Characters: none/ Minato, Jiraiya, young Kakashi, young Iruka  
Summary: Emotions are not foreign to Kakashi, they're simply hard to face  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto though we all wish I did. ;p  
Dedicated to Beasiesgal

* * *

"That was a pretty clever trick Min," Jiraiya laughed, watching the two boys as they played.

The blond smiled and shrugged as though it was nothing but the glistening of tears in the corners of his eyes gave away that it was definitely more than nothing. "He needed this. They keep putting him in teams with older kids. The teenagers either treat him like a baby or simply don't know how to play and he won't drop his guard in front of them long enough to. "

Understanding the problem all too well, Jiraiya nodded. "He did need this, you both did. It's good to see him laughing again."

"I was starting to wonder if it was an emotion completely foreign to him at this point," Minato said softly, his voice cracking slightly.

"It's hard to smile when you've just lost your mother and your father won't come out of his room most days." Jiraiya looked over his shoulder through the open doorway at the door to his friend's room. "And it doesn't help that there are those in the village that would put the weight of it all on his shoulders."

"It's good then, that there are people like the Uminos to whom compassion is not a foreign emotion, who see a child's sadness and wish to ease that rather than add to it." Minato wiped his eyes and forced the mask of composure back on his face.

Jiraiya nodded, smiling as he watched Kakashi correct Iruka's hold on a shuriken. "It seems to run in the family."


	76. Kick in the Head

Title: Kick in the Head  
Pairing/Characters: KakaIru/Kakashi & Iruka  
Summary: Memory is fluid, sometimes we forget and sometimes we remember  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto  
Dedicated to Beasiesgal

* * *

Memory is fluid, we forget one thing in favor of remembering another, age filing away these things of the past in favor of things more recent. Sometimes painful memories overlap the happy moments, the significance of their pain making it hard to remember happier times or turning them somehow sad. When we are forcibly reminded of something we had forgotten it is often like a kick in the head or perhaps the heart.

Kakashi was pondering all of this as he stared into pleading, liquid-brown eyes. His heart thudding loudly in his ears as a memory long forgotten came flooding to the surface.

"Please? I promise not to tell anyone..." Iruka begged, sticking his lower lip out in a very childish fashion.

"Anything for you," Kakashi said sweetly, leaning forward and kissing the chunin on the nose. "Although we both know you won't have to tell anyone for everyone to know you convinced me to dress up as Santa."

Iruka reached up and touched his nose, confusion written in the furrowed brow for a moment before he laughed at Kakashi's comment. "It's not like anyone over the age of ten will be there."

"So all the teachers are immature brats who resort to puppy eyes?" Kakashi asked, shaking his head.

"You could cast a genjutsu on them..." the chunin suggested helpfully.

Kakashi laughed again and tightened his hold on Iruka's waist. "Oh, yeah, that'd go over great at the next council meeting... the hokage cast a genjutsu on a bunch of teachers just so none of them would recognize him dressed up as Santa."

Iruka grinned and tugged Kakashi down for another kiss. "Just tell them you were... testing the preparedness and they all failed misreably."

"How about I tell them my boyfriend is a cheat and a brat who pulls out the puppy eyes whenever he wants me to do something," Kakashi asked, although he was fairly sure everyone on the council would guess as much.

"I don't either!" Iruka said defensively. "I'll have you know I save my puppy eyes for emergencies and I can't put up with another year of Gai as Santa. He looks even worse in red spandex than green and the fake fur leg warmers do _not_ help."

Kakashi simply laughed and then caught his boyfriend's lips again, silently thanking both fate and Minato for the best Christmas gift ever.


	77. Can You Hear Me?

Title: Can You Hear Me (Sequel to Seeking Solace)  
Pairing: KakaIru sorta MizuIru  
Summary: What does it take to say goodbye to the people we once loved?  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

-

"Hello Mizu...ki," Iruka said sitting down on the chair beside the bed, _Mizu-kun_ a breath from his lips.

The white-haired man chained to the bed laughed, looking far older and nothing like the beautiful man he'd once been. "Aw... look at you try to disassociate yourself from me." He made a tsking sound and shook his head weakly. "Stop trying to fool yourself." Mizuki laughed again and rolled his eyes. "Though, you are rather good at that."

"You're right," Iruka said simply. "I didn't want to see who you'd become; I don't want to see it now, but I do see it." He laid a hand over Mizuki's, casting the man a somewhat surprised look when he didn't try to jerk it away.

"You always were too forgiving and that monster doesn't deserve it," Mizuki said coldly, eyes narrowing in obvious irritation. "Neither do I."

Iruka squeezed the hand he was holding, gently. "I'm sorry." Tears slid down his cheeks and the chunin reached up with his free hand to brush them away. "Tsubaki and I should have seen something was wrong, we were your friends, we loved you... but we didn't see it when you changed and we should have. If we had maybe this all could have been avoided."

"You're both fools, and I'm not sorry," Mizuki growled. "That monster killed our families and you protected him..."

"I protected a _child_, Mizuki; I followed my hokage's orders, and I did the right thing." Iruka pulled his hand away and reached up instead to brush hair out of Mizuki's eyes. "I'm sorry that hurts you, but you're wrong about Naruto; he didn't hurt anyone. What the ninetails did isn't his fault, and we were all wrong for blaming him."

"NO!" The man yanked at his restraints, half-hauling himself up before his strength left him and he fell back again. "It's his fault! He is the monster, just you wait, you'll see, you'll all see and then you'll wish you'd let me kill him!"

Iruka sighed and shook his head. "No, that won't happen. I believe in Naruto." He stood up, staring down at the other. "I'm still sorry, I wish I could have saved you, too."

"Do you hear me? You're pathetic, naive', and _weak_. You've always been so fucking easy to deceive, you couldn't have stopped me if I'd told you what I was planning let alone figured it out for yourself." Mizuki's face screwed up more and more as he spoke. "Why are you even here? Do you think these little visits of yours are going to 'redeem' me?"

"Maybe I thought that once. Maybe I believed if I could get you to see how wrong you were that you'd become who you were before." Iruka shook his head again, sadly. "I loved you, Mizuki, as much as Tsubaki did." He smiled at the surprised expression on the other's face. "So I really thought this would hurt more..." Iruka looked towards the door then back at Mizuki. "It took me a long time to get over you, to find somebody I could trust enough to love again. I've found him, though, and as much as he's been hurt, he isn't twisted up the way you are. He doesn't see me as weak or stupid and he doesn't see Naruto as a monster; he believes in him the same way I do." The chunin stepped away from the bed and turned towards the door. "Goodbye, Mizu-kun."

The prisoner screamed profanities at the young sensei's back, jerking on the restraints. Then, as Iruka opened the door, began pleading for him to stay, not to abandon him the way he had, begging for him to come back, and swearing if he left him alone he'd never forgive him. The chunin paused at the door, then opened it and stepped through, closing it on the bargaining of the dying man.

"Are you okay?" Kakashi asked, sliding an arm around Iruka's waist casually.

Iruka smiled and while there was a definite sadness to it, there were no tears. "I think so." He stepped away, catching a gloved hand as he did, and headed for the door. "He can't hear me... he never could."

"I do," Kakashi said, squeezing the other's hand.

"I know." Iruka smiled. "That's why I was able to say goodbye."


	78. Emotional and Emotionless

**Title:** Emotional and Emotionless (Pain 100 themes)**  
Characters: **Sakura, Sai**  
Pairing:** None  
**Summary: **Emotions are dangerous things and Sakura's always seem to get in the way.**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto and didn't make money off this**  
Warning:** I've never written something from Sakura's POV and even less stuff with Sai so hopefull they're not TOO OOC but they might be.**  
AN: **This actually started out with Kakashi but it wasn't working... my Kakashi-muse refused to listen to her emo. *chuckles* Sorry but he my muse was just all 'eh... did she say something...' and every response was distant so it became Sai. This is also the first time I've really written Sai and I don't write Sakura much either. So well then I started looking at it and it became Ooooh these two could actually be good together or at least really really great friends because they'd be good for each other.

**

* * *

**"Sai..." Sakura frowned and picked at her food, shifting it around with her chopsticks rather than actually eating it. They were standing in her family's makeshift kitchen eating a hastily cooked meal that her mother had thrown together before rushing out the door on some errand or another. Rather _she_ was eating and Sai was standing there reading a book on interpersonal skills and waiting for her to finish so they could go train with Kakashi-sensei. She wasn't actually hungry but her mother had insisted she eat something because she was 'wasting away' so she was trying. It was hard to focus on food or training with Naruto off training again without her and Sasuke... she didn't even want to think what he was doing. "He's changed."

Sai looked at her over his book and raised an eyebrow. "Sasuke"

She nodded. "He wasn't always like this." It was something she needed to believe.

"Haven't you?"

"Yes, but they've both gotten stronger and left me behind again and-" She swallowed and looked up at her teammate. "-he was going to kill me."

"And you went there to do the same," he pointed out, his voice flat.

Sakura sighed, staring at her food for several moments before looking back up. "I couldn't though. I thought I needed to so no one else would have to but-" she swallowed again, "-I looked at him and all I could think about was how much I loved him. I know it's stupid and we were kids and maybe it's shallow to love somebody I don't know anymore and maybe didn't _really_ ever know but I do." Looking away again she closed her eyes in an attempt to push the ache that never seemed to leave anymore away. "At first I only thought 'wow he's so amazing and beautiful and I would do anything just to have him look at me but then when we were all a team and he did and we worked together with Naruto it became more." She sniffed and wiped the tears away. Everyone thought how she felt for him wasn't real and she knew it. They all thought she only liked him because he was cute and maybe that had been true at first. "I wanted to see him smile... when I realized, I mean _really_ realized what he'd been through I just wanted to see him smile."

Sai pulled a napkin from holder on the table and handed it to her. "Ah..."

"I'm as bad as him. I knew I needed to kill him to protect my friends and I couldn't do it because it would mean never seeing him happy." Sakura wiped the tears away, hating how emotional she always got, how weak she was. "I'm always so useless... everyone's always having to save me and the one time I have a chance to change that I can't. Now Naruto's going to have to do it and I'm not sure I can bear watching them. It's horrible but a part of me wants him to fail." She didn't know why she was telling Sai except that she didn't know who else to tell and keeping it inside was slowly tearing her apart. It shocked her when Sai wrapped his arms around her and hugged her but she didn't pull away just buried her face against his chest and cried.

After a few moments he released her. "I don't understand how you and Naruto can have feelings for somebody like him. I used to think it made you both weak."

Sakura picked up another napkin and wiped her eyes again. "You were right. I wish I was more like you right now then I would have been able to do what I should have."

He stared at her for a moment, his expression still that perfectly practiced and emotionless blank slate. "I was wrong. Emotions make you fight harder. You wish you were like me because your sad and hurts. I wish I was like you all of the time."

She knew he was right and it actually made her feel guilty and better at the same time. He was always reading and trying to understand other people while it came naturally to her. Picking her chopsticks back up, she started eating again then stopped and looked over at him. "Sai?" Sakura set her chopsticks down again. "Why did you hug me."

Sai looked up from his book again. "The books say that is what you're supposed to do."

The words were followed by the carefully mimed smile and for once it didn't piss her off. She'd known what he was going to say but she'd still wanted to hear it. Maybe he felt it, maybe he didn't but he wanted to and he meant it and that was what was important.**  
**


	79. Playing the Melody

67. Playing the Melody  
Title: Playing the Melody  
Pairing: None just Tayuya and her Doki  
Summary: From the moment she's introduced to the it she knows that the flute will be her power, her life, and more than likely, eventually her death.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto does.  
Dedicated to: BK00 not because he likes Tayuya just because he brought her to mind.

* * *

The first time she picked up the flute, Tayuya could feel it, the weight of it in her hands, the chakra that emanated from it, the pure potential of it all. Orochimaru-sama had said the demons that could be called forth with the notes had wiped out entire villages before turning on and consuming their caller. Despite that warning, she wasn't afraid.

In that moment, for the first time in her life, she was truly grateful to her parents. They had forced her to learn the instrument in some misguided attempt to tame her and change her into the sweet little girl they wanted her to be. Staring at that slim piece of metal she understood what destiny meant. They had inadvertently given her the thing she needed and now her new teacher had handed her the key and promised to teach her to use it. Tayuya wasn't afraid because she knew this was her path. This one thing would keep her from ever being weak, pathetic, and fragile trash like so many others.

She accepted the deal and she pushed to be the best because it wasn't in her not to.

Tayuya wasn't an idiot though and when Sakon and Ukon proved to be better than her she acknowledge them. There were disadvantages to being the best and their surpassing her and then Kimimaro overcoming them in ability were advantages. Kimimaro was weak in body and so there was a chance what Orochimaru wanted to do would fail, but Sakon and Ukon with their strange ability to share a body would survive and either way she'd retain the power she'd been granted.

She didn't see it as being weaker than them she was simply playing a melody that tied her to her destiny and manipulating Orochimaru like she did the demons so that he chose them over her. Her destiny was tied to her Doki and her skill with her flute. They would be her death, not him. The notes were already written and she would play them in perfect time.


	80. Sacrifice

57. Sacrifice  
Title: Sacrifice  
Pairing: None... not really.  
Summary: Sometimes what you had to sacrifice were the things you never realized you'd want to hold onto.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did the fight scenes wouldn't last forever and ever like they do.  
Dedicated to: Saniika as part of my 'Fic for Pic' Free Request. Her picture, the one above, won in the end because it's the one that drew a story out of my brain. There were a few others that were awesome and super close but I couldn't get more than a couple sentences. Also part of my 100 themes which I'm trying to work on getting done.

* * *

Sometimes what you had to sacrifice were the things you never realized you'd want to hold onto.

When Lee had declared his love for her she'd blown him off and now that he wouldn't even look at her she finally understood what it had come to mean to her. He wasn't cute or talented like Sasuke and she wasn't in love with him the way she was with Sasuke. Her heart didn't race at the briefest touch or look or smile, but it ached now at the lack of them. She'd wanted Sasuke and she'd wanted things _for_Sasuke, for him to be happy, for him to have friends and family he could count on, for him to understand there was more to life than revenge. With Lee at first she hadn't cared and then when Gaara had broken his leg she'd been relieved to know he had them, but she still hadn't put herself forward as one.

Sasuke and Lee were as different as it could get, maybe even more so than Sasuke and Naruto were. Sasuke was determination built from anger, resentment, and an underlying talent for everything that said he could do it. Nobody ever had to tell him he could do anything because he already knew he could and his only doubt was in the person who also inspired those emotions. Everyone around him told him that he couldn't. They fed that doubt. It wasn't because they didn't believe he was amazing because they did, she did, but they could all see the darkness in him and were afraid of what it would become.

Lee's confidence came from the joy of accomplishment, from the assurances of his sensei and teammates, and from more practice than likely any other shinobi to perfect the limited skills he had. His doubt came from failures and weaknesses. Gai had had to believe in him before he could believe in himself. People questioned his ability to do most things, but once just one person believed in him nothing they said could stop him because one person saw the best in him and believed in what he could be.

The things she'd seen as weaknesses in Lee were his strengths and the strengths she'd seen in Sasuke were his weaknesses. It amazed her the day she realized it though she couldn't, now, say when that was.

Sakura leaned against Gai and they walked away from the end of the scaffold, back to the ladder, leaving Lee sitting their with his back to them. She knew that at least Gai understood and maybe eventually Lee would. She'd come to tell him she was leaving, that she was going with Naruto for the showdown with Sasuke, but he'd already heard and wouldn't look at her or talk to her. It had been Gai who had told her why, that Lee was worried she and Naruto wouldn't come back. She knew there was a chance of that and it was why she had come to say goodbye, because he was her friend as much of any of the other rookies. "I don't know if I'll be able to do anything to stop them, but I'm going." She wouldn't let Naruto go alone even if she could do nothing in the end except watch them both die.

Gai nodded and hugged her shoulders. "Do not worry, Lee does not hate you. If he did, he would not care so much and would simply wish you well."

"I know." Sakura had hoped he would anyway. She needed all of her friends to believe in her, because she didn't and she was relying on their strength to not give into her fears. "Both of you take care." She smiled, though it took effort and looked back at Lee. "Thanks for being my friend even though I wasn't as good at it as you were." Turning, she climbed down the ladder.

"Sakura-chan!"

Her feet hit the dirt beside the newly constructed building and she looked up.

Lee stood at the top of the scaffolding, his feet set, his arm out giving her a thumbs up, and a wide sparkling smile on his lips. "As you think, so shall you become! You are strong, Sakura-chan!"

The tight ball of fear disappeared and she smiled. Whatever happened she would believe in her friends. She would sacrifice anything but that and if they all believed in her then she had to believe in herself.

Sometimes what you had to sacrifice were the things you never realized you'd want to hold onto and sometimes you got to hold onto the things you thought you had to sacrifice.


	81. Vacation

Title: Vacation  
Pairing: Konohamaru x Hanabi  
Summary: Boys will be boys and they don't really understand girls  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto though it would be cool if Kishimoto would see my awesome potential and hire me as co-writer.  
Dedicated to: Sketcher25 for helping me figure out what I wanted to do with part of it.

* * *

A mere two hours before class let out for spring vacation, Konohamaru decided it was the perfect time to carry out his plan. The 'now or never' mentality of eleven-year-old boys was entirely to blame for the rash decision.

Even now, three hours later, he wasn't sure what had gone wrong. The cast was the same rich blue as his scarf, and it really didn't hurt that bad. His ears hurt far worse, and he wondered if Iruka-sensei was _ever_ going to stop yelling. It wasn't like he'd expected Hanabi to break his arm, let alone jump on top of him and start pummeling him until Iruka-sensei pulled her off. Really, he thought it was a bit of an over-reaction. He'd only put the gum in her hair to get her attention after the spitballs hadn't worked. Before that, he'd tried the lizard down the back of her shirt, which he still thought was funny. He hadn't expected her to _cry_ about it. Hanabi_never_cried, so he really didn't know why Iruka-sensei thought it was obvious that she would.

Iruka-sensei asked him a question, and he stopped and mentally back-pedaled, trying to figure out what the question was. His brain caught up and supplied him with the question right at the same time Iruka yanked on his ear. Iruka had asked something about why he'd been stupid.

"Are you even listening to me?" Iruka asked, his voice a step away from deafening. "For Kami's sake why would you do something so completely stupid? You have been her classmate for three years now, you can't tell me that you didn't know."

Konohamaru blinked. "Know what?" The question didn't make any sense.

Sighing, Iruka rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Hanabi-chan's mother died when she was just a baby. When she was a little older, maybe three or four, she found out that Hinata-chan refused to grow her hair out because their mother had cut her hair not too long before that, and so Hinata cuts it to remember her. Ever since, Hanabi's refused to let anyone cut her hair."

"Yeah, but I didn't cut her hair," he pointed out, not really sure what Iruka-sensei was getting at.

Iruka frowned and crossed his arms. "And, what do you think will happen when they can't get the gum out?"

Konohamaru stared opened mouthed for a moment, the realization that he'd probably deserved to get beaten senseless sinking in. He jumped down off the bench and raced for the door. "I have to go, Iruka-sensei!" He was halfway down the hall before he heard the door slam, and it surprised him to realize his teacher hadn't tried to stop him.

He stopped by his house only long enough to grab the jar of peanut oil then raced to the Hyuuga compound and pounded on the door.

The door slid open and Hanabi stood there, her long brown hair still dripping water onto the black v-neck tunic she wore.

"I- I'm sorry." Konohamaru held the jar out. "I thought maybe... you could try this instead of cutting your hair." He knew she probably hated him, if something ever happened to his mother's scarf he'd hate the person responsible.

Hinata walked up beside her sister holding a comb. "It's okay, Konohamaru, we got it out already."

"Really?" He bit his lip and winced, only then realizing it was busted open. "I'm still sorry. You can hate me if you want to." He lowered the jar.

Hanabi looked from him to her sister and then back to him. "You're an idiot. If you like me you should have just said so. I don't hate you, though." She looked down at his cast. "I'm sorry I broke your arm."

The fact that she didn't hate him was a huge relief in and of itself. He felt his cheeks warm, though, at her mention of his crush. "It's okay! It matches my scarf!" Konohamaru grinned at her.

"We have to get ready for dinner, but why don't you come by tomorrow. You two can talk more then," Hinata suggested.

"Oh yeah, yeah, that'd be great!" Konohamaru laughed and nodded. He turned to leave, stopped, turned back around and smiled at Hanabi. "I think you're really cool, Hanabi," he said then turned and ran away, his cheeks burning and his heart racing. Even with a broken arm, spring vacation promised to be fun.


	82. Triangle

Title: Triangle  
Pairing: KakaIruTenz  
Summary: Falling in love isn't always easy, falling out of it is harder, realizing you don't have to sometimes that's the hardest.  
Written for: 100 Themes and the Formspring question -If your love life got boring, would you think about a threesome? If so, who would you want to join you in your bedroom?  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I'm not making any money doing this but I sure as hell wish I did. Kishi realize how superior I am and give me Naruto! hahahaha  
Dedicated to: Serani just because she's always been a sweetheart and I've meant to do something for her for awhile and haven't. Also to whoever asked the question on formspring. I went in a round about and non-explicit way of answering the question but I hope they like it. I went looking for ideas and ways to finish up my 100 themes and something threesome wise so I could do the KakaIruTenz for Serani and this question brought it all together.

* * *

When he first saw Kakashi again after years of being separated, due to their change in positions when Kakashi took on a genin team, his heart hadn't changed. He had almost hoped it would, that time would make it easier and he would forget or maybe find the courage he'd lacked all the years they'd known each other. It still skipped though and his chest still felt impossibly tight at the sight of him. His breath was still stolen along with the words that were always on the tip of his tongue. Every little teasing jibe from his senpai, his mentor, his crush made the feelings that much stronger, and Kakashi had picked the habit back up immediately. It was almost like time hadn't passed. Like he hadn't been painfully separated from the person he loved for over four years.

It had though and Kakashi had changed. Tenzou could see that, and he could also see that it was for the better. He had thought at first that it was his team, and he still thought that was part of it. The minute Naruto had mentioned 'Iruka-sensei' though, he'd seen it. If he hadn't known Kakashi for as long as he had _maybe_ he'd have missed it, _maybe_ he could have ignored it. The barely visible twitch of his mask that indicated a smile even though it showed no where else and was likely invisible to most everyone.

He couldn't help it; he'd been jealous.

It started as denial. He told himself that they were just friends because they were both Naruto's teachers and cared about him. It didn't work. The first time he saw them together in the mission room it was obvious. Even with most of Kakashi's face hidden it was there in the way his attention never left Iruka. The smile Iruka gave Kakashi was even brighter than the one he gave Naruto, and his eyes lingered on Kakashi longer than was necessary. Kakashi also forgot to introduce him which only made the jealousy worse. When Iruka introduced himself and knew who he was he'd thought maybe Kakashi had mentioned him only to have that hope dashed a moment later when Iruka said Naruto had told him all about him and the ghoul eyes. When he'd fixed the expression on the bright-eyed, far too cheerful to be sane chunin, he'd just laughed and thought 'Yamato' was demonstrating the expression for his benefit.

The feeling moved to anger next. He'd been Kakashi's friend for years. He'd been his comrade; they'd saved each other's lives more times than he could count. It wasn't fair that Kakashi had fallen for anyone else. It infuriated him, and he hated Iruka for it, hated himself, and even hated Kakashi. It had passed quickly because he could never truly hate Kakashi. Worse, he realized he couldn't hate a man like Iruka. Every time they ran into each other Iruka smiled at him and talked to him with respect and admiration over how hard he worked with Naruto. He complimented him and laughed over how he'd handled the situation between the kids and Sai. The way he smiled at him made it impossible not to smile back. It drove him crazy until he decided he simply couldn't avoid the truth. He understood why Kakashi loved Iruka. The man was _warm_ like nothing else.

Depression set in after that. It was his fault, and he knew it, and no amount of wishing could take back all of the years just so he could have his chance to tell Kakashi again would ever make it happen. He had failed and let the moments slip by because he'd been a coward, and he hadn't thought Kakashi would be interested in him because he was a man. Kakashi read Jiraiya's porn, and it had seemed an impossible chance. To know that it wasn't, that Kakashi was open to a relationship with another man, it felt like his chest was caving in on him for an entirely new reason. To make things worse, at least at first, Iruka had been the one to seek him out and try and cheer him up. _Iruka_, of all people, had pulled him away from the bar he was at to make sure he'd get home safely and not end up face down in a gutter. It hadn't even taken more than a few days for Iruka to do so. He had truly believed then that it would only get worse though he wasn't sure where you went from there. There didn't seem to be a down from where he was looking.

Iruka hadn't taken him back to his apartment though, he'd taken him home. Kakashi had been there and down had suddenly appeared. Tenzou knew he wasn't a good drunk. The entire walk home he'd sung random 'happy' songs to make himself feel better. Iruka had even sung with him. The moment he saw Kakashi though he turned on Iruka irritated and blaming him for his frustrations, too drunk to even edit the fact that he was in love with Kakashi out. At some point he'd tried to push Iruka away, failed and nearly fell over only to have the man catch him. His drunken, stupid anger spilled over onto Kakashi, and every little irritating thing the man had ever done seemed to come to mind and fall out of his mouth in the following instant. That had somehow slipped quickly into him sniffling and crying like an idiot which was a new side of drunkeness for him. It was equally as lousy and pathetic though. Maybe it was what needed to happen, but when Iruka pulled him over to the couch and into his arms it had seemed a rather bastardly thing to do.

Now, sitting on the couch with Iruka's arms around him and Kakashi maskless and looking mildly concerned beside him, Tenzou wasn't sure what he was going to do. He felt like an asshole. He hadn't actually wanted to get in the way. He liked Iruka. He was nice, and it was simply impossible not to. If the man hadn't been loyal, dedicated, and caring as both a shinobi and his senpai's lover maybe he wouldn't have cared if he hurt the man, but he was and he did. Maybe if he, himself, was less honorable he'd have considered it a real option and done something to split the two up, but then he wouldn't have deserved Kakashi anyway. His intoxication induced stupidity had, he was fairly certain, just ruined any chance he had of maintaining a friendship with either of them.

Tenzou wiped his face, pushed himself back from Iruka and stared at the floor between his feet. He wanted to throw up, and it had nothing to do with how much he had drank.

"Feel better?" Iruka asked, his voice calm and without even the slightest note of anger or irritation.

At least, Tenzou didn't hear pity in it. The only thing that could have been worse would have been that. "No." He wondered if he could blame it on the alcohol and pretend not to remember it in the morning.

"Mah, of course he doesn't. Tenzou isn't used to you yet." Kakashi smacked him on the back. "I keep telling you you're a horrible drunk. Asuma is sick of listening to you too."

Hearing his real name caught his attention immediately and he turned to glare at Kakashi. "SENPAI!"

Kakashi shrugged, leaned back against the couch, and picked up the book in his lap.

"Stop worrying I have clearance." Iruka leaned over, reaching behind Tenzou's back and smacked Kakashi on the head. "You could have mentioned that to him at some point before," he scolded.

Not even looking up, Kakashi waved a hand dismissively at Iruka.

"I've had the required clearance since I accepted the responsibility of being Naruto's home room teacher. I saw yours and Sai's file before the two of you were appointed to the team. Lady Tsunade wanted my opinion," Iruka explained.

He hadn't expected that, and Tenzou stared, unblinking and trying to connect the two facts. It made sense though, given that everyone seemed to respect Iruka, he just hadn't realized how much respect the hokage herself had for him. He'd only seen the parts of Iruka's file that directly related to Naruto and Tenzou wondered at the differences there. His brain was still too foggy to figure it out, but he was together enough to know it meant there was more to Iruka than he knew.

"I knew you liked Kakashi," Iruka stated, turning the conversation back to the uncomfortable part it had momentarily departed. "It's obvious."

Tenzou stared, half-afraid saying anything like he was would make things worse.

"It's fine." Iruka smiled and looked from him to Kakashi and then back to him. "I wondered what you'd do about it, especially after _somebody_ decided it would be funny to try and bait you into something. Ass." The last comment was clearly directed at Kakashi and accompanied with an eye roll.

"Mah, my way was more fun."

Tenzou felt his cheeks warm at the knowledge that Kakashi had been doing it, 'flirting' with him, intentionally.

Iruka's eyes focused on his cheeks, and he laughed. "At least I'm not the only one around here who does that. I have seem him blush a few times, but..."

The fact that Kakashi had ever blushed surprised him, and a bit of the jealousy came back momentarily that he'd missed out on it. "You've seen Senpai blush?"

"Mmhm... I'm sure you'll get the chance to see it to." Iruka smiled and raised and eyebrow. "If you want to?"

There was a question there, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. "I..."

"Iruka, I told you he's not oblivious but he's not great at subtle when he's drunk," Kakashi stuck in, blandly.

Iruka's cheeks flushed, and he rubbed at the scar that cut across them. "It's a little weird, but I..." He cleared his throat and stole a glance at Kakashi. "_We_ wanted to know if uhm..." His words trailed off and the blush burned a brighter red.

Kakashi flipped a page, the sound loud in the otherwise quiet room. "Iruka wants to know if you want to make this a threesome, Tenzou." There was a slight lilt to his voice with the statement.

Tenzou turned and looked at Kakashi then back at Iruka. Obviously he was drunker than he thought.

"Not some perverted thing like he makes it sound," Iruka growled, glaring at Kakashi again. "Not that, that's not you know something that could happen, but uh..." The red of his cheeks crawled down Iruka's face to his neck. "First I thought we could date and get to know each other better."

He was too stunned to be embarrassed by the implied sex though it was starting to sink in that he wasn't passed out somewhere having some insane dream. If that had been the case it probably would have involved sex. Tenzou wondered if he maybe he should get another drink even.

"It might not work out very well, I don't know since it's not something I've ever considered before, but... uhm." Iruka's ears started to turn pink.

"He thinks you're a sexy piece of ass, Kohai." Only the barest hint of a laugh crept into the otherwise flat statement. "He's really into the 'sensei kink' and he thinks having another 'student' would add to the hotness of it."

Tenzou couldn't help the twitch of annoyance at Kakashi's teasing. He turned and glared at his senpai. "Not everyone is as perverted as you." He didn't know why he felt the need to defend Iruka except that it seemed extremely unlikely.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "You don't know Iruka, he is a kinky kinky man. This was _all_ his idea. You should see him in bed he gets really wild when I call him sensei and when I asked him what he thought about you..." He let the sentence trail off, a slow smirk tugging at his lips.

Rolling his eyes and turning back to Iruka, Tenzou shook his head. "Why do you put up with him?" A more important question right then seemed to be 'why would _he_ want to'. He admired Kakashi, and the man was unquestionably good looking, but he was also a pain in the ass. They fought, and they didn't, and he climbed under Tenzou's skin faster than anyone else so there was no guarantee it'd even work in a relationship. On top of that Kakashi kept nearly everyone at arms length, even his friends to the point that Tenzou wasn't sure some days if he really knew the man. It was a little dizzying and only a little because of the alcohol, but he felt a little more sober at the thought.

Iruka, red faced, rubbed at the scar on the bridge of his nose, his thumb and forefinger following it across his cheeks. "I'm starting to wonder why I do and it's fine if you say no-" he sighed, a hint of amusement in his voice, "-but you should probably sleep here tonight." Standing, Iruka walked over and leaned down to whisper in Kakashi's ear.

Kakashi smiled, turned his head and kissed Iruka's lips, and then stood up and pulled the chunin towards the bedroom, turning the light off as they left.

Tenzou pulled the throw off the back of the couch, adjusted the couch pillows around, and did the best to make himself comfortable. It had never been his intention to get in the way, but... maybe he wasn't. Closing his eyes, he let the heavy sleep of too much booze pull at him. Maybe... maybe it could work.


	83. 67 Percent

Title: 67%  
Pairing: NejiTen  
Summary: Naruto Gakuen Den verse. There's nothing wrong with being a tomboy.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto and his publishers do and the only thing I gain from writing this is possibly some attention.  
Dedicated to: Sorceress2000 I know you don't like the term tomboy but well hopefully you'll like the fic.  
A/N: This is both my contest entry for Bladed Love and a 100 themes piece. It always makes me ridiculously happy to kill two birds with one stone.

* * *

Tenten frowned and stared at the gigantic D on her paper. The six and seven seemed to mocking her even more than all of the little x marks over the questions she'd missed. She'd done fine with the multiple choice ones but the fill in the blank questions had driven her crazy.

"You should give up the martial arts club," Sakura tsked, taking the paper from her and flipping through it. "Boys don't like tomboyish girls, who are manly and dumb, as anything other than friends. If you want Neji to like you then you should study harder and join a club that doesn't make you all sweaty and gross."

Ino flipped her hair, swishing the blond pony-tail behind her, and leaned against Tenten's desk. "She's just saying that because the only thing forehead-freak here has going for her is her brains. Men are dumb and the only thing that matters to them is who's prettier, which billboard-brow will never be. You'd be cute if you'd stop with the buns and pigtails. They make you look five."

Sakura turned and glared at the comment. "Only an idiot would find a fat Ino-pig pretty!"

Tenten took her paper back from Sakura and slipped out of her seat, ignoring the argument that was erupting in front of her. She really didn't want to be in the middle of it, neither of them fought fair and sometimes it got to the point of hair pulling and scratching.

Throwing her things in her bag, Tenten headed out of the classroom and from there outside.. Despite their really stupid fighting she had to wonder if _maybe_ they were right. It didn't change anything, she wasn't going to give up martial arts, but... The thought that Neji wouldn't ever want to date her because she wasn't as pretty as Ino or as smart Sakura was depressing. Neji was student class president so she could imagine Sakura being right and it was hard to imagine Ino was wrong. Neji wasn't an idiot like most of the guys, but he was still a guy.

The depressing thoughts only seemed to drag on and not even the sunshine and warm weather made her feel better. She dropped down in the grass and hugged her knees to her chest. She couldn't give up martial arts, she wanted too much to be strong. Her mother wasn't and the men she dated mistreated her. Tenten never ever wanted to feel helpless like her mom and she'd made it her goal to never be helpless. Marital arts meant she could protect her mom and herself both. It wasn't fair if she had to choose between that and being loved. Her mood sank even more.

Neji walked up and sat down beside her in the grass. "I heard about the D in history. You seem more worried about it than you should be." He leaned against his knees, watching her. "It's only one test, you'll do better the next time."

"It's not that, or not just that," Tenten sighed, crossed her arms behind her head and leaned back against the grass. "Am I 'tomboy', Neji?"

Neji raised an eyebrow. "Is there something wrong with being one?"

"Depends on who you ask," she muttered, feeling stupid for even saying that.

"Even if you are, there is nothing wrong with who you are." Neji twisted and leaned back on one elbow. "You believe in yourself and give everything you have in the things you love. You're pretty, nice, strong, and not obsessed with what other people think of you _most_ of the time. More than that though, you see the best in people." He smiled, a soft barely there twitch of his lips that practically glowed with softness of his eyes. "Lee would tell you the same things and it's far more important what those closest to you think than what anyone else does."

Tenten sat up, flustered and more than a little embarrassed, she felt her cheeks warm and her chest tightened almost unbearably at the compliments. She didn't doubt for even a second that he meant them and _he'd_ called her 'pretty'. "You- uh- really think I'm pretty? Even when I'm all sweaty and gross from practice?."

Neji's cheeks shaded a very light pink but his smile didn't falter. "Even more so then, because that's when you look most alive. You put your heart into it."

Her cheeks burned, relief washed over her and the sheer happiness she felt over that made her love him that much more. It didn't matter if she was a tomboy of if she got a D on a test because Neji didn't care and Neji thought she was pretty and Neji knew the exact right things to say.

Neji cleared his throat and looked away. "You feel better then?"

Tenten grinned and nodded. "Mmhmm!" She believed right then she had more hope and more of a chance with Neji than either Sakura or Ino did with Sasuke. "Thank you." Being a 'tomboy' wasn't a bad thing if it meant you didn't always have to act like a girl and she thought that maybe if he didn't ask her out soon then she would ask him.


	84. Drowning

Title: Drowning  
Pairing: ShinoHana  
Summary:Written for 100 themes 'Drowning' and 55 themes 'Green'  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or it's characters and I don't make any money off of writing fanfiction for it.  
Dedicated to: Jyukai-Koudan because I know she loves this pairing and I wrote it to enter in the ShinoHana contest fo her.

* * *

It wasn't hard to imagine being swallowed up by him; it was harder to imagine that it wouldn't happen. Shino was unassuming, calm, and cool. All Aburames were; which made them the opposites of Inuzukas. That's just the way it was. She had never really understood why her little brother was best friends with one and had always assumed it was because nobody wanted to put up with him except Shino. When they had been kids, she hadn't given him much thought. _That_was probably her biggest mistake.

Shino tightened his hold on her and leapt back, the wall of bugs between them and the enemy. Kneeling, he set her down near a tree, shrugged out of his coat, and wrapped it around her. Sweat soaked through his shirt underneath, and the stiff collar of his shirt sagged. His spiky brown hair drooped and stuck to his face where it had come free of his forehead protector. The sunglasses he normally wore were gone, most likely lost somewhere in the fray. He turned his eyes on her, they were nearly black, but when the fading light filtering through the trees hit them, they took on an almost iridescent green color. Shino looked her over for a moment and then stood back up. He turned his back on her and moved his hands, directing the bugs.

Hana was caught by those eyes even after he looked away from her. The cold slipped around her though, even with his coat on, and she slumped against the tree. She held her hand over the gash on her stomach and winced at both the pain and the paleness of it. Her strength was slipping away, and her thoughts drifted from her savior, his unimaginably brilliant eyes, his strength, his _everything_she'd missed when she'd dismissed him as her little brother's friend to her dogs. Her boys. She could still smell them out there even through the rank stench of blood and people, of battle.

Fog slipped around her mind, and she sucked in another painful, deep breath, feeling like it was either gone from her or her chest was too heavy. Her eyes slid closed, and she forced them open again. The only thing she could see was Shino and his kikai. Brief glimpses of the battle beyond their little corner slipped through, and some part of her brain said there were more people around her that she couldn't see. It occurred to her that it was because she could smell them. Hana focused on that, trying to block the pain out by distracting herself. They smelled like him, but not, and she wondered who they were. It was there, somewhere in the back of her mind where she could no longer reach.

She was drowning in this darkness, this fog, and the only thing that held her to it was the pain. It would be easy to let that go, she thought. Her hand slipped off of her stomach, and her eyes slid closed.

"Hana-san."

The pain ripped through her again, and she choked on the cry that slipped from her throat. Something pressed hard against her stomach, and she growled, forcing her eyes open to see who her attacker was and found those same captivating green eyes narrowed in concern.

He tightened the bandage again and scooped her up. "Do not close your eyes again."

"Are you-" She coughed. "-trying to tell an Inuzuka what to do?" Hana laughed and it broke down into a coughing fit, her blood splattering over his coat and shirt.

His lips stretched into a thin smile. "Yes." Tightening his hold on her, Shino leapt from the tree they were in to another.

She winced and bit her lip, trying not to cry out from the pain. Despite knowing she was likely going to bleed out, Hana wanted to laugh. She would have if he hadn't jumped again and sent another searing pain through her midsection. All her strength was draining out of her, and she couldn't even lift her arms to hold on properly so she gripped her hands in his shirt, doing her best to keep her breathing under control and her eyes open.

It seemed to take forever, and Hana didn't know when her eyes closed again. It was when he set her down again that Hana realized she must have closed them because the pain hit her and they flew open with scream she hadn't realized she even had in her.

People talked around her, but the words were garbled and dark fog slipped over her again, dragging her down into oblivion.

_"Hana-san."_

The name sounded familiar, distant and faded, but familiar. She was warm, though, and tired, and it was dark.

_"Hana..."_

The voice called again, and she thought she remembered something more, a color... green.

_"Your dogs are okay, I thought you should know."_

Dogs. She had dogs? It sounded right, and she mentally scraped at the darkness around her, trying to scrabble free of it. Her dogs. Her boys. They were okay. Relief filled her at the knowledge. There was a pause after the words that seemed longer, and Hana fought again to wake up, but failed. Knowing she was asleep didn't make it easier, and the darkness slipped around her again, covering her with it's silence.

_"I need to go back. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."_

Hana felt like screaming. She didn't want to sleep anymore. She wanted to see the green again. His eyes, she remembered, though not who he was. It frustrated her, and she growled, irritated at the fogginess. Taking a breath, she forced her eyes open, wincing when the light hit them. Not wanting to close them and risk falling asleep again, she blinked and ignored the desire to shut them. "Shino..." His name slipped out before she even knew that she remembered it.

Shino stared down at her. His sunglasses were still missing, but he had his coat back on. It was no longer soaked in her blood, but the stains were there.

She grabbed his hand. "Thank you."

He looked down at her hand on his then back to her eyes, a very light blush coloring his cheeks. "You're welcome, Hana-san."

"Hana," she corrected, wondering why she had never, in all the years they'd known each other, done so before.

The pink of his cheeks darkened, and he nodded very slightly but said nothing.

"Stay safe."

Smiling, Shino nodded and squeezed her hand. Letting her hand go, he turned and headed out of the tent.

When it was all over, she wanted to find out more about him and his beautiful green eyes, and all the other things she'd overlooked.


	85. No Way Out

Title: Private Beach (100 themes 'No Way Out')  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Kakashi and Iruka have plans for the beach with team 7, but Kakashi has plans of his own to make things 'more interesting'.  
Rating: M for suggestive content  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters but this story is mine.  
Dedicated to: Jendesu as part of an art trade as she's doing cover art for some of my e-books.

Special thanks to Kita_the_Spaz for the Beta.

* * *

Iruka blinked, stared, and then blinked again. Despite that, the horror didn't go away.

Kakashi had on the skimpiest bright orange speedos ever, with Lifeguard emblazoned right across the front in white. The mask he usually wore and his perverted orange book sat on the table beside the door, ready to be grabbed.

"Oh _Hell no_, you are NOT wearing that!" Iruka put his foot down, metaphorically speaking, and walked over to where Kakashi was leaning indolently against the couch. There was no way in hell he was letting Kakashi leave the house wearing _those_.

"You don't like them, sensei?" Kakashi asked, his voice practically a purr. He slid his arms around Iruka's waist and tugged him forward. "I got them from the Icha Icha catalog."

Putting his hands on Kakashi's chest to prevent Kakashi from pulling him any closer, Iruka shook his head. "They are not only the most hideous things next to... likely whatever Gai is wearing, they are completely inappropriate for taking the kids to the beach."

"Inappropriate and hideous are just another way to say incredibly sexy, right?" Kakashi asked, grinning and leaning further forward, invading Iruka's personal space. "If you don't want me to wear them you could help me take them off. I mean... change."

Iruka felt his cheeks warm and he pushed uselessly, at Kakashi's chest. "Pervert."

"Mah, I'm a Pervert who's right though. You just don't want me to wear them because you won't be able to take your eyes off of me and that would lead to some rather creative uses of towels." He pulled Iruka closer, their hips flush. "Mm... We _could_ have our own little beach party right here."

"We can't, we'll be late." He wanted to let Kakashi have his way. They had been planning the outing with Team Seven for over a month and the kids were looking forward to it.

Kakashi grinned and pushed Iruka's blue trunks down. "We'll be quick." They slid to the floor and Kakashi pulled Iruka against him. "And I promise to find something better to wear after."

Not that he had stopped Kakashi, like he should have, but the promise made Iruka cave the rest of the way and he slid his hands down. "Fine, but I'm going to hold you to that." He rubbed Kakashi's cock through the fabric before working his fingers under it and dragging them down. Kneeling, Iruka slid the tight fabric down his lover's lean legs.

Reaching down, Kakashi tilted Iruka's face up, and lifted the black headband over his Sharingan eye, which whirled slowly.

Iruka froze, caught in the regard of that crimson and black gaze. The room disappeared, replaced by a cloudless sky and a completely empty beach. Instead of a couch, Kakashi stood in front of him, leaning against a table with an umbrella over it. Iruka didn't make any attempt to dispel the illusion. He had to admit he was enjoying it. "Who needs bathing suits at all, like this. We could go skinny dipping and nobody would know," he murmured huskily.

"Mah, Sensei, now you've got the right idea," Kakashi agreed.

Iruka stood up and slid his arms around Kakashi's neck. "I'll admit they are sexy, but you're still not leaving the house wearing them."

Kakashi chuckled. "They're _all_ yours."

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled. The door banged against the wall, jarring Iruka out of the illusion.

A puff of smoke burst in front of Iruka and he fell forward onto the couch, the orange speedos in his hand. He tried to cover himself up with them, realized there wasn't enough fabric and grabbed a pillow, the skimpy excuse for a swimsuit still clenched in his hand. "Uhm..."

Naruto blinked at him.

His face burned and he both mentally cursed and thanked Kakashi. The first for getting him into the awkward situation and then abandoning him. The second for disappearing before Naruto could see them. "I was just getting dressed..." He winced, sure Naruto would ask him why he was doing that in his living room and not his bedroom.

"Cool! They're orange just like mine!" Naruto grinned and gave him a thumbs up sign.

_'Fuck!'_ Iruka forced a smile on his lips. There was really no way out of it now and he knew it. "Yeah they are." He couldn't very well say they weren't his. He'd have to explain _whose_ they were and where _his_ were. If he was lucky, they were behind the couch, but Iruka knew he wasn't that fortunate.

More than likely they were in the hands of an evil bastard of a boyfriend who was going to get the ever-living shit beaten out of him when Iruka saw him next. _'I know you planned this, Kakashi. Don't you dare think you're getting away scot-free.'_


	86. Heal

Title: Heal  
Pairing: IrukaxYuugao post HayaYuugao  
Summary: The best medicine from a broken heart is a warm one.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I'm not making any money off of this.  
Dedicated to: Jyukai-Koudan as thanks for the deviant art points. Request was IrukaxYuugao post HayaYuugao with the theme 'Home' and I decided to add in a theme from my 100 themes list because it fit.

* * *

Yuugao brushed her hair back, freeing several droplets from it, and settled on the couch.

"Feel better?" Iruka asked, setting a cup of hot tea down on the coffee table.

She nodded. The shower had been exactly what she'd needed. The hot water always seemed to soothe more than just her aching muscles.

Taking the brush from her hand, Iruka started brushing her hair. "What was it this time?" It was a serious question, but his tone was still warm.

It reminded her of the shower. "We were in Rain and..." Her voice broke slightly and she swallowed. "I could smell them. Before I ever caught sight of them I could smell them." Just the memory of it made her heart ache.

Iruka set the brush down and sat down beside her. "Orchids." It wasn't a question, because it didn't need to be.

Yuugao nodded and slid her arms around Iruka's waist, all but collapsing over his lap. "They were purple too." Fingers combed through her hair, brushing it back out of her face and behind her ears.

It was hard being ANBU. It was harder still to remain so after losing Hayate. Sometimes it was visiting a place they'd been and the memory of him being there with her that tightened the vice around her heart. Other times it was something she ate that he loved or something she saw that she knew would have made him happy.

If he'd just been her teammate perhaps a year might have dulled the ache. He'd been more than that though, he'd been her anchor because, despite his illness, he'd always smiled. Even in the darkest moment she could rely on that. When she thought they wouldn't make it out he'd give her that soft, sweet, patient smile and assure her that they would. One of the reasons she loved Iruka was because he smiled just like Hayate. She was never quite sure if she loved him for himself or for the shadow of Hayate that she saw in that gentle, understanding smile and it bothered her sometimes.

She might have found peace if she'd been allowed to seek revenge, but the alliance would never have allowed it. Despite that, she had tried once, careless of the fact that it would be signing her own death sentence.

Iruka had been on that mission. It had been a simple, diplomatic one to exchange information on how they ran the academy. She'd been sent to shadow him and guard his back.

Yuugao had wondered then why she'd been assigned as his bodyguard given her personal vendetta. Sandaime himself had given her the position and it had seemed like he was telling her it was her chance. Maybe he had been and maybe that was why Iruka was the instructor he'd chosen. The old man always seemed to know things, always seemed to be holding something back. She was almost certain now that Iruka had been his trump card and he'd been deliberate in choosing him. It was like some elaborate game of shogi that he was playing against her, letting her trap herself. Likely, it was exactly how it seemed.

Iruka hadn't stopped her, hell he'd offered to help her, but the way he'd looked at her... The sadness in his eyes, the pity, the worry she'd seen there for her... it had reminded her so much of Hayate that she couldn't do it. Yuugao couldn't kill somebody knowing that Hayate would be disappointed in her. Hayate was too sweet, too forgiving, and Iruka was no different. She had known that if Iruka was disappointed in her then he would be too. It was that thought alone that stayed her hand.

After they'd come home, he'd invited her over for tea and he'd held her while she cried the tears she'd held inside from the moment she'd been told Hayate was dead.

Days like today, when she came home from a mission, Yuugao visited him. She cleaned herself up and then curled up in his arms, just so she could feel safe and warm again. She came home to him because she couldn't come home to Hayate. Maybe it was only because of all the ways he reminded her Hayate, but she loved him.


End file.
